The Charm Bracelet
by DalWriter
Summary: Future Fic. Who Knew Prince Charming Would be Dick Casablancas? Mac reminisces as she looks at a charm bracelet Dick gave her. MaDi with some mentions of LoVe.
1. Unspeakable

**WARNING:** _The opening chapter of this story is __very__ sad. Major character death but don't worry. They all had long, full lives. The rest of the story is happier & ameliorates the sadness in the beginning. Please don't give up after chapter one._

Cindy "Mac" Casablancas sits numbly in the dining room of the expensive Neptune mansion where she and her husband, Dick, raised their family. She is idly worrying a platinum surfboard charm on her ever present bracelet. Her shoulder length, dark, wavy hair hangs loosely around her face. It is now naturally streaked with grey; she long since stopped dying wild colors into it. Her normally sparkling blue eyes are blood shot and a family of four could pack for a week's vacation in the huge bags under her eyes. She looks broken, because that's what she is.

A young blonde woman reaches over and wraps her arms around the older woman's hunched shoulders. "It's gonna be okay, mom," she lies comfortingly with more conviction than she feels. "We're all here to take care of you."

Smiling through her unshed tears, Mac lets go of the surfboard to stroke her youngest daughter's hand where it rests against her own shoulder. "I can't believe he's gone, Bree," she sniffs.

Brianna Casablancas, the spitting image of Dick if he had been a girl, hugs her mother tighter. At 22, Brianna is the reigning women's champion of the Professional American Surfing Association. Blessed with her father's height and balance, she had been the apple of his eye from the first time her little, blonde head popped up on the front of his board.

All of the Casablancas girls sit around the table with their distraught mother. None really know how to comfort her. Their dad was her whole world. He was always the family member who soothed everyone and took away their pain. Very few people were blessed with Dick's innate sense of happiness. No matter how bad the circumstances, Dick preferred to keep things light, simple and enjoyable. He had no time for moping and could see the bright side of any situation.

Amanda Casablancas, nee Mars because Logan took Veronica's name, the oldest daughter of Mac and Dick's best friends, is married to their first born, Richard Samuel, after Mac's father. He's affectionately known as Rick to avoid confusion. When he was born, neither of his parents wanted to burden someone with a "third." Plus, Big Dick's ethics hadn't improved much over the years and at the time of Rick's birth Big Dick was serving time in federal prison for yet another questionable real estate transaction. Even back then, Mac had known that her estranged father-in-law would eventually die behind bars and that was just fine with her. Her prediction came true when Rick was five. Given Mac and Veronica's friendship, Mandy was more like a daughter than a daughter-in-law because all the kids were fixtures in the others' houses all their lives.

Savannah Sky Prescott, nee Casablancas, their oldest daughter, is perched at the far end of the room so she can keep an eye on her fraternal twins, Matthew and Catherine, a/k/a Mat and Cat, as they bicker in the den over a video game. Uncle Logan is trying to keep them calm but is failing miserably. Dick had been the master at handling kids, probably because he always remained a kid at heart.

Kelly Lynn Johannsen, their middle daughter, nurses her infant son, Ian. Of all the girls, Kelly's dark hair and short stature make her look most like Mac and different from her fairer, taller siblings. She is waiting for her husband, Darren, to awaken; the time change has thrown his schedule off. He'd flown in the day before from Australia where they live and where he is the current Australian men's surfing champion while Kelly manages the Australian branch of her parents' company. Kelly met Darren several years earlier when she accompanied her sister, Brianna, to a surfing tournament. When Kelly had first introduced Darren to her family, Dick had been more smitten then anyone. Out of loyalty to his blood line and pure pride, Dick often bragged that Brianna was the better surfer, but in any head to head contest, the day of the week and the break of the waves played a bigger role in determining the "winner" in any family competition because the talent was almost dead even.

Lily Kane is also present, in body, if not necessarily spirit. In solidarity to her lover, Mitchell Casablancas, the youngest son, and out of respect for her father's oldest and dearest friends, she sits dutifully in the dining room absently flipping through this week's issue of the _National Tattler_ somewhat perturbed that she isn't on the cover. Once she turned eighteen, Duncan returned from Australia with his all grown up little "angel" in tow. Upon being loosed upon civilization after hiding her whole life, Lily lived up (or possibly down) to her namesake's reputation and courted media attention like an addict - to the point that it made Lindsey Lohan and the Kardashians look like shy hermits. Lily Kane took the idea of being famous for nothing more than her own beauty and her family's billions to new heights and new depths, much to her conservative father's chagrin. Besides the obvious, Mac never understood what Mitch saw in the voluptuous cougar who was fourteen years his senior. Dick often made wisecracks about their relationship calling Lily "Mrs. Robinson" or by the name of his former stepmother, Kendall, as he tried to reassure his skeptical wife that their son's romp with an experienced, older woman was healthy.

A mop haired child comes up to Mac's side. "Don't cry, Grandma. Grandpa hates it when you cry."

Feeling particularly geriatric under the weight of the last few days, Mac smiles softly down at her granddaughter. At eight years old Courtney Casablancas, Rick and Mandy's daughter, is the picture of sympathy – childlike innocence on the cusp of understanding - not yet fully comprehending that her happy-go-lucky goofball of a grandfather was gone forever. Looking at her it was often disconcerting to realize that she embodies both the best and worst of her grandfathers, Dick and Logan, disguised as an angel.

Trying to put on a brave face, Mac hugs Courtney. "You're right, baby. Grandpa hates it when I cry." Dick's biggest weakness had always been a crying woman. He'd do anything to make it stop. Mac had to be the bad cop when the kids were growing up. All the girls knew early on that turning on the waterworks wrapped Daddy around their fingers in no time.

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Mac wishes for the millionth time in the last week that Dick was here to enfold her in his strong arms, to press her into the warmth of his embrace, or to just do something idiotic that would make all of this unbearable pain go away.

Another blonde woman enters the room. She is almost as weary as her friend. Easing herself down into the chair across from Mac, she gently whispers, "How you holdin' up, Q?" Mandy rubs the newcomer's back.

It has been years since Veronica called Mac Q. Once Veronica became a full fledged FBI agent with unlimited access to far better computer geeks with marvelous toys she stopped asking her old friend to hack into various databases and websites. Mac had been too busy with her growing family and growing businesses to play Lone Gunman to Veronica's Agent Mulder. Despite the loss of the crime fighting aspects of their relationship, the young mothers found new common ground over the years as their friendship evolved and their families grew.

"About as well as you'd expect, Bond," Mac answers honestly.

"He was one of a kind," Veronica offers. How do you console a friend who has just lost her husband of almost 40 years to a freak surfing accident?

Although she and Logan had never married because she just couldn't believe anybody could be faithful for that long, time and Logan had proved Veronica wrong. They had a warm, loving but unconventional relationship; they only played at being miffed when their friends called them the Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell of Neptune. Logan had given up asking Veronica to marry him at least ten years ago but fearing his own mortality, he'd asked again the night Dick died. Veronica's answer was still no, but that night she took a long time to respond. For a few minutes Logan thought she'd finally say yes. She didn't, but for him it was enough that she had thought about it, even for a moment.

Despite being over sixty years old, Dick still loved to surf. "Age ain't nothin' but a number," he often quipped. Last week he had gone out to Dog Beach to catch a few waves with Logan when the unthinkable happened – he had a stroke right there in the water. It rendered the right side of his body immobile, preventing him from maintaining his balance on the board or swimming effectively once he'd been dumped into the churning ocean. The waves crashed over him and his board struck him on the head. The power of the surging water pummeled his paralyzed body and repeatedly beat him into the sand because the deadly combination of the stroke and the concussion rendered him unable to maneuver. Miraculously Logan had been able to pull Dick out of the water and start C.P.R. By the time the paramedics arrived Logan had found a thready pulse but Dick never regained consciousness. As he lay immobile on the sand, the unnatural angle of Dick's left leg showed that it was obviously broken, as was the bone jutting out from his right arm just above the wrist. It wasn't until they got the results of the CT Scan at the hospital that anyone realized his brain had begun to compress from a massive subdural hematoma. Five days later, he was gone.

Dick had always had high blood pressure for which he took medication - when he remembered. Despite Mac's best efforts, she was never able to substantially improve his diet. He loved bacon and eggs for breakfast when he wasn't eating pop tarts, cheeseburgers for lunch and steak for dinner which he often washed down with a cold beer and a tequila chaser. His favorite snacks remained nachos with extra cheese and anything deep fried. The six pack abs had long disappeared by his mid-forties but he had been in decent shape for a man of his age. Although his drinking and partying had curtailed significantly since college - thanks to Mac's calming influence - he never completely stopped. His doctor often cautioned that he was a ticking time bomb but Dick preferred to live life to the fullest. Too many people in his life had their lives cut short. Once he learned what it meant, "Carpe Diem" became Dick's mantra. He truly made the most out of every day.

"That he was. That he was," Mac agrees with Veronica's characterization of her late husband as being one of a kind. Removing her arm from around her granddaughter, Mac resumes rubbing the surfboard charm on her crowded, jangling bracelet.

That overstuffed accessory was family legend around the Casablancas' house. Each charm told the decades long love story of Mac and Dick – the unlikely couple who not only weathered the test of time but grew stronger together as they built a devoted family and a billion dollar business empire; Sexy Surfer, Inc. was the world's largest on-line purveyor of surf equipment and marital aids. Like its owners, the business seemed an odd combination but it worked.

"Grandma," Courtney begins, running her smaller fingers though the charms on Mac's bracelet just to hear them jingle, "Why do you always rub the surfboard when you're upset?"

Pulling the little one onto her lap, Mac answers, "Because that was the first charm Grandpa ever gave me." With that reply, Mac gets a far away look in her eye and the corners of her mouth involuntarily smirk upwards at the wonderful memory.


	2. Happiest of New Years

***** _FLASHBACK_ *****

Logan and Dick had finally moved out of the Neptune Grand and into a beach house sophomore year. Logan and Veronica had gotten back together then broken up a few more times throughout college in a seemingly never-ending cycle of distrust and lust.

For New Year's Eve, senior year, the boys decided to throw what was for them a fairly mellow party. Many of their college friends had gone home for the holidays but a few high school buddies were back in town. All in all, at any point during the night there were about 40 – 50 people in the house, with a slightly smaller number, maybe around 30, by the time the clock struck midnight on the West Coast.

Because she really didn't have anything better to do, Mac had tagged along with Veronica who was back on again with Logan. Mac figured she could watch Ryan Seacrest and the empty shell that had once been Dick Clark just as well on the boys' 40-inch flat screen as she could from her parents' living room. The beach house had the added advantage of saving her from Natalie and Sam's pity for their dateless daughter.

After dumping Max when his lack of ambition toward anything other than exploiting the laziness of most college students finally grated on her last nerve, Mac had been on a few dates with various guys over the last year and a half but there really wasn't anybody special. As tumultuous as their relationship was, Mac knew she wanted something with the passion and fire of Logan and Veronica's connection. She could do without the drama, but she refused to settle for lukewarm.

With midnight on the East Coast approaching, the revelers streamed into the living room for the first of four toasts. At the appointed hour, 9:00 p.m. PST, they clinked glasses, wished each other Happy New Year, and used the event as an excuse to kiss random people. Hoping to spare herself the indiscriminate kissing, Mac hadn't gotten off the couch so she was somewhat taken aback when Dick flopped down next to her. "You're bringing me down, dude. I can't be havin' sad, emo chicks at my party. It's just not right. You gotta get your groove on." He bucked his hips at her in a vulgar fashion.

Mac grimaced and waved him away. "I'm not in the mood for your antics. One of your New Year's resolutions ought to be to grow up."

As usual, he ignored her, but he stopped humping the air. Instead, he planted a sweet peck on her lips. "Happy New Year, Ghostworld."

When he pulled back from the innocent contact, Dick seemed to be bracing himself for Mac to slap him. Instead she touched her champagne flute to his red solo cup. "Happy New Year, Dick. Now be a good boy, 'n go away."

With each passing year, Mac had become more accustomed to Dick's tactile nature. She no longer fidgeted uncomfortably when he insinuated himself into her personal space. After all, it was just Dick being Dick. Not liking his antics was akin to kicking a puppy.

"Okay, then," Dick mumbled rising from the couch. "See you in an hour!" He was trying to figure out what just happened. _Whatever possessed him to kiss Ghostworld? They didn't have that kind of relationship._ Still, he was pretty happy that she hadn't slapped him or pushed him away like that awkward time on the beach at the end of freshman year.

As she watched Dick disappear out the sliding glass doors, Mac stifled a giggle. He really was a goof. As much as she hated to admit it, he did have a pretty spectacular rear view: broad shoulders and solid glutes. That boy really did know how to fill out a pair of jeans. She marveled fleetingly at what it must be like to be that unaffected.

Dick had changed a lot since high school, even since freshman year of college. He still partied more than anybody she'd ever met, and part of her wondered why he hadn't died of alcohol poisoning, but he'd cut back on weekdays and was now actually known to go to a class or two. He definitely had a head for business. After he stopped making stupid lion analogies, with his input, Mac and Logan had been able to direct even more traffic to their GradeYourAss website. Logan eventually gave Mac permission to expand the concepts to other body parts, retaining only a 25% stake in the new ventures and letting her run with the rest of the projects. What started out as a joke of a school assignment was now paying Mac's half of the exorbitant Southern California rent for the off campus apartment she shared with Parker.

Whatever pain and dread had existed between Dick and Mac had begun to melt three years ago after he'd apologized to her on the beach. She chuckled to herself at the memory of his inept and unwelcome attempt to kiss her. Touching two fingers to her mouth, which still hummed with the memory of Dick's soft, warm lips, she couldn't seem to remember why that kiss had been unwelcome then.

A few weeks after that fateful day at the beach Mac couldn't actually say she'd been surprised to run into Dick again. It was the first anniversary of Cassidy's death. Mac had been distressed at how powerfully it affected her. She had hoped she'd been able to put all that pain behind her but she hadn't been able to concentrate in any of her classes that week. She found herself crying for seemingly no reason. Eventually she gave in and drove to the cemetery where she found Dick sitting on his brother's grave with a bottle of tequila in his hand. They'd gotten drunk together that sunny May afternoon and bonded over the fact that they were the only two people in the world who missed the troubled teen.

When the sun set, Mac realized they were both too wasted to drive home, so she called Parker. She had debated calling Veronica but rejected that idea on the grounds that after everything, Veronica didn't need to deal with the fact that Mac couldn't bring herself to completely hate Cassidy. Beaver may have blown up a plane and killed a bus full of people, but Cassidy was her partner for Pizza Quest '06 and the first boy she'd wanted to go all the way with. Piz, Wallace and Parker arrived at the cemetery a short time after Mac called to collect their friends and get them and their cars home safely. None of the three really understood how life-altering the events of graduation night at Neptune High had been for Mac, Dick, Veronica and Logan.

That first anniversary had been a turning point for Mac and Dick but neither consciously realized it at the time. Despite their obvious differences, their mutual fondness for Cassidy forever linked them together. From that day on, the barbs continued, but stung less, having been blunted by playfulness and understanding.

The following year, Mac and Dick took a taxi out to the cemetery together and shared another bottle of tequila. This time they brought supplies: a cooler with ice, cups, seltzer, lemons, and salt, plus Mexican take out because Mac didn't want to drink on an empty stomach again. The liquor and the companionship served to soothe both of their aching hearts.

About halfway through the bottle - most of which was consumed by Dick - Mac finally told him the details of that night from her perspective. She'd been convinced that somehow she'd done something wrong which rendered Cassidy unable to perform. She'd never before been able to verbalize how humiliating and traumatizing it had been to be left alone and naked in that hotel room. The only thing more horrible than having that happen to her was the guilt and shame she'd felt wondering whether it would have been worse if Cassidy had come back for her.

Dick hadn't known what to say. He was relieved that Cassidy hadn't raped Mac too. He still felt sickened by his own role in what happened to Veronica after Shelly Pomeroy's party in high school. He never wanted to think about what Logan would have done to him if Beaver had actually succeeded in killing Veronica or her father. Not knowing what else to do for Mac as her tears flowed from her revelations, Dick opened up his body and pulled her into a hug in the vee of his legs. Mac wrapped her arms around the muscular surfer and cried for almost a half-hour while he rubbed gentle circles on her back and murmured soothing nonsense into her hair as he tried unsuccessfully not to cry himself.

It was the most cathartic event Mac had experienced in two years. She had never been able to talk about those fears with anyone - not even the expensive therapist her parents hired immediately after the tragedy. When her tears subsided, she dried them on the back of her hand, forgoing the sleeve Dick gallantly offered her and thanked him with a simple kiss on the cheek before scooting back out of his embrace and downing another shot. Neither acknowledged that they both knew Dick had cried too.

Unable to process the whirlwind of emotions swirling around them, Dick clambered to his feet and dragged Mac up with him. Pouring more tequila into her empty cup, Dick raised the bottle of Jose Cuervo and said, "A toast to my brother! You sure had great taste in women, Beav!" He winked and clanked the bottle against Mac's cup before swallowing about two full shots of the golden liquor assuring that he missed the blush that crept up Mac's face.

Thus, almost two years later, Mac was relatively comfortable in Dick and Logan's beach house even though she was dateless – again – on New Year's Eve.

With the New York festivities over, the TV had been reclaimed by video gamers. Mac was soundly beating Wallace at Mario Kart when Dick wandered up to her shortly before 10:00 p.m. carrying a bottle of champagne. He topped off her glass, and then disappeared without saying a word. He came back a few minutes later with a new bottle of bubbly in an ice bucket; his ubiquitous red solo cup was still in his other hand. Grasping it between his teeth, he used both hands to put the champagne bucket down on Mac's side of the couch doing his best to place it somewhere that it was least likely to be kicked over. "You want me to open this for you?"

"Not right now," Mac replied.

"Yes, now. You can't celebrate New Year's Eve sober, i-tunes. It's like a law or something. Now drink up!" Dick directed.

Reluctantly, Mac held up her champagne flute and took a healthy sip so Dick could pour more into the glass. _It was the only way to make him go away_, she reasoned.

In anticipation of midnight central time, Wallace had hit pause on the game, and gone to look for his date for the second round of kissing. This time, when Dick bent down pressed his lips against hers, the contact lasted a fraction of a second longer but still didn't qualify as anything other than a peck. "Happy New Year, Macadoodle!" Dick enthused. Mac didn't respond other than to say, "You too." The power of speech wasn't hers as she tried to process why Dick kissed her twice already; it was only ten o'clock and he was more sober than she would have thought possible on the biggest party night of the year.

By eleven, Mac had consumed almost half a bottle of champagne. A few people had been using the bottle Dick brought her to top their own glasses because it was convenient. Realizing that the bottle was almost empty, she wandered into the kitchen in search of a bottle of water. Returning to the game room, she found Dick hovering by the couch, looking around for someone. He smiled broadly when he saw her and handed the now refilled champagne flute back to her. "Toasting with water is like totally bad luck," he explained looking at her plastic bottle as she took the proffered glass from him. "And it's really lame."

Both sensing what was coming at the stroke of midnight mountain time, when Dick's eyes left Mac's to look at her lips, she licked them involuntarily. This was a real kiss. Despite the lack of tongue or contact between any other body parts, their slightly open lips and longest smooch yet confirmed that platonic was off the table. Blue eyes met blue eyes in wonder when they broke apart after a few seconds. It wasn't quite seven minutes – maybe seven seconds – in heaven, but there was a tingle in both their stomachs and an unfamiliar warmth in their veins as the couple whispered, "Happy New Year." Other people pulled them individually into hugs, diminishing the awkward aftermath for them both. At that point, it was simply easier for Mac to share air and cheek kisses with random people than deal with the knowledge that she just willingly kissed Dick Casablancas for the third time in three hours.

When the fake revelry died down, Mac endeavored to find something to do. She expected that Dick had left the room. She was wrong. When she turned, there he was gazing at her with a puzzled expression on his face.

Swallowing thickly, Mac took a step back before breaking eye contact with Dick and settled herself back on the couch in search of a new opponent.

"I'll play with you," Dick offered returning to familiar territory with the double entendre, which had now taken on a new, dangerous meaning because it could possibly be real.

Smirking, Mac chose to ignore him by retorting, "You're going down, Dickie."

"You wish," he rejoined, pointedly staring at her lap, raising his eyebrows and licking his lips while enjoying his favorite pastime of embarrassing her with sexual innuendos.

For almost the next hour the two friends gleefully battled each other for supremacy of the video games. Dick continued to drink his beer while Mac alternated between water and champagne. Shortly before midnight, plastic champagne flutes began to be passed out. Logan, Veronica and Wallace each with two open bottles in their hands filled everyone's glasses. Realizing they didn't have enough to go around, Dick convinced Mac to head outside to the makeshift bar to grab more champagne to help him fulfill his hosting duties and insure that everyone had some of the official beverage of New Year's Eve before the clock struck midnight.

They found themselves relatively alone outside when their friends began the countdown, "10 . . . 9 . . . 8 . . ."

Neither moved inside to join everyone else. Rather, their eyes locked on one another. With each passing second, Dick inched closer to Mac. She felt as though an entire flock of oversized butterflies had taken up residence in her stomach. Both of their hearts were racing. Mac couldn't decide if it was the alcohol or the intoxicating man standing before her. She concluded it must be the champagne because the alternative was that she was actually attracted to Dick. Even scarier was the idea that he might be attracted to her too. To steady herself, Mac reached up and rested her hand against Dick's broad chest. Before the horns and the beeps and the firecrackers being blown off in the distance reached her ears, Mac had closed the distance between their lips reaching up to initiate their fourth kiss of the night.

Dick snaked the arm with his champagne around her back and caressed her cheek with his free hand. She shivered, whether from the warmth of his touch or the coolness of the bottle, she wasn't sure. Nevertheless, Mac mirrored his movements, wrapping one arm around his back for stability while her other palm remained flat against the top of his chest above his heart with her fingers grazing his collar bone. He was unbelievably warm even thought it was only about 50°F outside. When she sighed into his mouth, Dick deepened the kiss, softly seeking out the tip of her tongue with his. Despite the new, exciting element, this barely French kiss was sweet, filled with burgeoning love and just a bit of longing. The passion would come later.

This time, it was Dick who took a thick swallow to tamp down his emotions when their lips parted, but he never took his eyes off hers. "Happy New Year, Cindy."

Mac blinked. She had no idea Dick knew her real first name. She never liked the name Cindy and didn't think it suited her but hearing it from his mouth, gave it a whole new meaning. Cindy sounded deliciously sexy when he said it. She liked it.

Standing there, gazing into Dick's eyes still encircled by his powerful arm, Mac found herself wishing he'd kiss her again and never stop.

The moment was shattered when Logan's voice broke through the haze that surrounded them. "Shots!" he called out opening the sliding glass door and heading to the bar unaware of what he was interrupting. "Dick, get over here. You too, Mac!"

Doing shots with Logan was just the escape Dick needed. He hadn't expected to be kissing his dead brother's ex-girlfriend on New Year's Eve, no matter how cool she'd become. More importantly, he hadn't expected to like it so much. He'd kissed her earlier because she looked sad and he didn't want any sad people at his party. Dick Casablancas had kissed a lot of girls in his time but this was the first time one ever made his toes curl. He hadn't felt electricity like that since the first time Madison Sinclair gave him a blow job when they were playing Seven Minutes in Heaven in the coat closet at the Enbom's during freshman year of high school. Even so, that memory paled in comparison to what Cindy's chaste kisses did to him. _Whoa, dude. When did he start thinking of Ghostworld as Cindy? Up until last Spring even calling her Mac felt too intimate to him, somehow. _


	3. Unfamiliar Situations

**A/N: This chapter continues Mac's flashback. **

**Since I forgot, I wanted to say thank you to silverlinings26 who did the initial beta read of this story for me. All mistakes remain mine; she was more instrumental in helping me find Dick's voice which I find to be clearer in FF than on the show. **

Mac and Dick didn't talk about what transpired on New Year's Eve. Mac went back to assuming it had been the bubbles in the champagne. Dick wasn't much of a talker. He was also a firm believer that talking, especially about relationships and feelings, was a sure way to kill both.

Still they flirted and joked – albeit more physically - pushing, pulling, tickling, play slapping and mock hitting. Anybody looking at them knew it was classic playground behavior but neither of them saw it that way. Rather, it was a comfortable, predictable way for them to interact without acknowledging the changes in their relationship but which still afforded them the physical contact they subconsciously craved. However, it didn't force either one of them to think about what they were doing or what any of it meant.

Logan and Veronica convinced Mac and Dick to go skiing with them in Squaw Valley over the long Martin Luther King Day weekend, but that couple's need for some "indoor sports" left Mac and Dick alone to explore the mountain resort. Dick tried to teach Mac to ski on the bunny slope but it wasn't her sport. Despite all those family camping adventures, Mac didn't really like the outdoors. She especially was not fond of the cold. Dick snowboarded most days, enjoying the slopes almost as much he delighted in the water. Sometimes Logan joined him but only for an hour or so, because Veronica didn't ski. Mac read, worked on her computer, watched the snow fall and sipped hot chocolate by the fireplace in the lobby. She would have preferred the fireplace in their chalet but the noises emanating from the master bedroom drove her to seek refuge elsewhere.

At night, when Logan and Veronica got lost in each other, Mac and Dick hit the bars, dancing and drinking, but mostly playing bar games like foosball, air hockey, pinball, pool and even darts. They were extremely competitive with each other. When she won, he'd throw an arm around her and high five or hip check her. When he won, he'd do one of those patented Dick dance moves complete with gyrations and hand gestures. Mac often found herself having to look away when she started thinking about how else hip thrusts like those could be useful.

There were a few moments when their friendship smoldered on the verge of something more. Mac occasionally found herself staring at Dick from across the room. Through the picture windows she could often spot him approaching the Lodge even though he and every other guest were bundled into bulky layers. There was just something about the way he moved; she knew it was him. At various points throughout the weekend, she would almost catch him staring at her. He always managed to look away – and surprisingly not guilty – before she caught him.

Dick's size and proximity kept the other guys away from Mac all weekend although it never dawned on her that anyone was checking her out. In contrast, she couldn't help but observe all the girls who flirted with Dick, but he didn't seem to notice - which wasn't like him at all. Say what you want about his intellect, Dick Casablancas had never been clueless when it came to hooking up with a willing hottie.

Sunday night after they had just beaten two guys at foosball, Mac and Dick were standing by the bar sipping their drinks and surreptitiously staring at each other over the rims of their glasses, while the size of the crowd kept pressing them closer together. They could both feel the heat radiating off the other and it had nothing to do with the temperature in the room or the bulk of their sweaters. They'd catch each other's eyes and hold those gazes for a few heartbeats longer than conventionally polite for two platonic friends. As they locked eyes and licked their own lips, moving millimeters closer together as if being pulled together by magnets, the mood was ruined when the jostling crowd caused some guy to dump a beer down Mac's back. The sincerity of his instant apology was the only thing that saved that guy from becoming immediately acquainted with Dick's fist. Cold and wet, Mac had enough of the bustling lodge and called it a night.

#*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Two weeks later, Mac helped Dick play host at the boys' Super Bowl party, because Veronica and Logan were only interested in playing tonsil hockey with one another. The friends gave each other high fives after particularly funny commercials. They'd known for some time that they had similar senses of humor, although Dick's was bawdier. Mac had convinced him to put on Animal Planet's _Puppy Bowl_ during the otherwise boring half time show and he was immediately fascinated by the camera under the water dish.

After Dick's team lost, he upheld his end of their bet by sporting blue streaks in his shaggy blonde hair during the entire week following the big game. If she had lost, Mac would have been required to wear one of Dick's silly slogan tee shirts to the film class they took together on Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays to fulfill a humanities requirement for graduation.

Midway through February, Dick shocked himself and Mac by asking her if she'd have dinner with him that Friday. Misunderstanding his question, and knowing that Logan was taking Veronica to Las Vegas for some spywear / gadget convention, Mac gamely replied, "Sure. I can pick up a pizza or something and come over. Half meat lovers, half veggie? Does that work for you?" It was their standard choice when they shared a pizza during a spontaneous game or movie marathon. Although they hung out fairly often, it was almost by default. They rarely planned to get together; it always just sort of happened.

"No," Dick began but Mac cut him off.

"You want Mexican instead?"

"No." Irritated by her lack of comprehension, Dick grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her around to face him. "I want you to have like dinner _dinner_ with me. You know? I want you to get dressed up and totally do your hair like girls do and put on make up and shit, well if you want to. I want to pick you up and take you to a nice place and . . . and have dinner . . . with me, you and me, . . . together." Dick had never really asked a girl out to dinner before but emphasized that last word, hoping she'd understand his meaning without making him say the word date. His own brain hadn't quite processed the fact that he just asked Mac out, but he knew he wanted to spend more time with her and not just in a friendly way. The memory of how she felt in his arms was a feeling he was anxious to recapture. Dick had hooked up with dozens, if not hundreds, of women in his short life. He'd brought girls to parties. He'd even eaten in restaurants with a few of them, but it had always been a spur of the moment thing because he was hungry, not something he designed days in advance.

Mac regarded him for a moment as if she hadn't understood a word that he said. Regaining her composure after blinking a few times, she responded with more questions than answers. "You want to have dinner? With me?" she asked pointing at herself for clarification as if there had been another person in this conversation. "This Friday? You and me? Do you know what this Friday is?" Her words seemed to jumble together.

"Yeah," Dick resented it when people who ought to know better thought he was a total moron. "It's the last day of the week, duh." He dropped his hands from her arms.

_Okay, maybe he doesn't know what Friday is_, thought Mac. "It's Valentine's Day."

"No, it's not. Even I know V-Day is Sunday. Friday is a different day, not Valentine's Day." _Geez_, he thought. _Why do chicks get so hung up about a stupid Hallmark holiday anyway?_

"And you want to have dinner _dinner_ with me on Friday? In a restaurant? Just the two of us? Alone?" The questions continued to tumble out. She knew she sounded ungracious, but it still wasn't registering that she'd heard him correctly.

"Yeah." When Mac remained silent in the face of his offer, Dick shoved his free hand uneasily into his pocket and began swinging his notebook next to his hip for lack of anything else to do. He looked almost five as he scuffed the toe of his flip flop on the ground. _Why was she taking so long to answer him_? "Well? You're supposed to be the smart one. These aren't, you know, hard questions."

"Oh. Um," Mac stuttered. _Dick Casablancas couldn't be asking her on a date over Valentine's weekend, could he? They didn't have that kind of relationship, did they?_ Her mind fluttered back to the kisses they'd shared over New Year's Eve and their near kiss at Squaw Valley. She wondered what might have happened if that guy hadn't dumped a beer on her; she'd been fairly certain Dick had been moving in to kiss her. Then she thought about how close they had grown over the years. They often hugged and Veronica always complained that Mac and Dick shared a number of private, inside jokes that no one else understood. _Maybe they did have that kind of relationship?_ "Okay. Sure. I'll have dinner with you on Friday. What time?"

"I'll pick you up around 7:30," Dick replied looking far calmer than he had in the last several minutes. "Be ready. The DickMeister is gonna show you a good time, baby."

Mac just stared at him like he'd lost whatever little sense he may have had.

#~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

On Friday Mac was uncharacteristically nervous. She fidgeted so much in film class Dick literally reached a long arm across her seat to still her movements. "Dude, what the hell's wrong with you?" he barked, but not unkindly, suspecting the answer was the same thing that was making him nervous: later.

Willing herself to calm down, Mac practiced the breathing exercises she'd learned in therapy. This was ridiculous. It was film class. It was Dick, her friend. Her platonic friend who she'd shared dozens of meals with over the years._ Yeah right, _a little voice inside her head taunted her. _Just keep telling yourself that. Dick is your __platonic__ friend. Sure he is. He's not the insanely hot guy sitting next to you, radiating warmth, who smells like sandalwood and the ocean. The one who would be picking you up in about four hours to go on a dinner date with him on Valentine's weekend. No, that can't possibly be why you are as nervous as virgin on prom night._

Dick was having an equally difficult time concentrating. When he realized how keyed up Mac was, part of him smiled and part of him panicked. It was enthralling to know he could make Cindy nervous but it was also a bit sad to think she might be afraid of him, or worse, that she was reconsidering her decision to have dinner with him.

Neither took good notes that afternoon. When class was over neither knew what to say. Finally, Mac broke the awkward silence. "Well I'd better get going. . . . I have a few things I need to get done before . . ."

"Whatever," Dick assured her, trying his best to appear nonchalant.

"So I'll see you at 7:30?"

Smiling, Dick promised, "Abso-posi-lutely."

At 7:25 p.m. Dick knocked on Mac's door. She couldn't believe that the boy who was late for everything was early. When she opened the door, it was all she could do not to gasp. There was Dick, looking delectable in a black oxford unbuttoned at the neck with the sleeves casually rolled up; his dark jeans accentuated the muscles in his thighs, which rippled as he rocked slightly back and forth on the balls of his feet. One of his hands was stuffed in his pocket, wrinkling the front tails of his loose shirt. He'd even combed his hair.

Mac wasn't sure what to do when Dick pulled a single red rose out from behind his back and presented it to her. It was wrapped in a cellophane cone and the edges of the outer petals were turning black. It was pathetic really, but on the other hand it was also kind of endearing.

"They had these in a bucket by the pumps at the Gas-o-Rama so I figure what the hell? Chicks like flowers and you're a chick so . . ." Dick justified his decision to get her a cheesy, dying flower.

Finding her voice and her manners, Mac reached out to take it from him. A small, neon orange sticker proclaimed that he had paid $1.29 for the flower. Stepping back to invite him inside she narrated her retreat into the kitchen, "Just let me get something to put this in." Re-emerging with what passed for a rose in a bud vase, she confessed, "I can't believe you got me this. That was . . . sweet. Thank you." She was oddly touched by the gesture.

Dick's eyes shyly met hers. "I wanted . . ." he hesitated momentarily, then continued after finding his resolve, "I didn't want to mess this up. Cause… well…you know that this is like a date, right?"

She had been hoping and had dressed according to that assumption, but it was reassuring to hear him spell it out.

Shamelessly leering at her outfit, Dick answered his own question. "I guess you did know," Disk said appreciatively. "You look 'smokin'." He reached out to grab her hand and twirled her around in the hallway for a 360º view.

Mac was wearing a dark burgundy satin blouse tucked into tight black jeans. A fringed scarf was tied around her tiny waist to add contrast and accentuate her curves. She'd worn high heeled black boots in an unsuccessful attempt to close the vast height differential between them. Her makeup was darker than usual and a heavy hand with the eyeliner gave her a sensual, smoldering look. A thick silver necklace with a large, heart pendant covered in scroll work sat in the hollow of her throat. Black onyx stones dangled from her ears, hidden by her lustrous hair unless the light and angle caught them just right.

Offering her his arm, Dick suggested, "C'mon. Let's go; our reservations are for eight and you know how totally sucky Southern California traffic can be."

Mac grabbed her wrap and took his arm. "Traffic? Aren't we staying in Neptune?"

"What? I guess we could if you want, but our reservations are in Costa del Mar."

"Costa del Mar?" Realization dawned as she spoke their destination aloud. "You didn't?" Mac asked somewhat nervously, her eyes wide in astonishment.

Dick smirked, his old familiar cockiness returning. He knew she was impressed that not only did he accommodate her dietary preferences but he made reservations at one of the best new vegetarian restaurants in the Southland. He also hoped that she remembered talking about the Magic Garden with Veronica on the way back from the ski trip. "You wanted to go to that new veggie place. You were talking to Ronnie about it in the car. The guy is like on the _Food Channel_ or something." Mac was speechless but nodded so Dick continued, "What? I can pay attention, when it's important, dude."

When they pulled up outside the restaurant Mac was in awe. "I can't believe you made reservations at the Magic Garden. I've wanted to go here since it opened." Not that it was in her price range. "How long have you had these?" She was terrified that he was going to say he made these reservations months ago for some other girl and that she was only here because that other woman had cancelled. _Well_, she resigned herself; _at least I'm going to get to eat here. _

"I made them on Wednesday. I figure we gotta eat somewhere but I'm probably gonna need to get Del Taco later. I need my meat. Man cannot live on veggies alone. It's not natural. If God didn't want people to eat meat He wouldn't have made animals so tasty."

Overhearing his comment, a well-dressed couple nearby scoffed at his crude pronouncement. If Dick saw them, which was unlikely, their derision didn't faze him. Mac turned her head to hide her eye roll.

Looking around as they stepped inside, Dick grinned when he saw the bar. "At least I can get a beer. I know that's not made from animals."

Mac chuckled and looked at him incredulously. "This place is booked weeks in advance. How'd you get reservations on such short notice?"

"Money talks," he shrugged indifferently. Mac didn't need to know that after offering the maitre'd $500.00 for a table and still getting turned down, he started to freak. He ended up calling Logan's buddy, Connor Larkin, the actor, and begging Connor to make the reservation. Less than 100 miles south of Hollywood, star power still opened doors.

Dinner was amazing. They talked and laughed and got lost in each other's eyes over the candlelight. Mac had never had such exquisite food. The sommelier had recommended a light pinot noir, which melded beautifully with all of the flavors prepared by the chef. She was more surprised that Dick seemed to be enjoying his meal too. She'd never seen him eat anything besides meat and potatoes, fast food or outright junk. They were feeding each other and eating off the other's plates. When Dick calmed down he could actually be sweet, especially when he wasn't trying to show off for his Pi Sig brothers - who all seemed to expect him to always act like an ass. Mac preferred this Dick. Her Dick. OMG she was getting possessive about him. When did that happen? Probably when she realized he was sweet like Cassidy, but so much more self-assured.

Overall, it didn't seem like a first date because they were both so relaxed and comfortable around each other, even with the sexual tension occasionally sparking the air. Mac was reminded of that old saying: _Love is friendship that has caught fire. Wait a minute. Love? Could it really be? Could she be in love with Dick? How does anybody fall in love on a first date? That's ridiculous; then again, was this really a first date or had they actually been building toward this moment for the last three years?_ That last thought seemed to stop time.

From Dick's perspective, Mac suddenly appeared to freeze like a deer caught in headlights. He reached over to take her hand. "What's wrong, Cindy?"

His voice calling her given name shook her out of her reverie. "Nothing's wrong," she assured him, rubbing her thumb over his hand as she spoke.

"Look, I may not be as smart as you, but I'm seriously not that dumb, especially when it like comes to you. What gives? Where'd you go?"

Mac smiled beneficently at her date. She knew she'd been caught thinking but she wasn't ready to confess the whole truth to him so she offered a small revelation. "When you call me Cindy, it startled me."

"It's like your name, isn't it?" Dick was mortified. He was sure her name was Cindy MacKenzie. He'd heard teachers call her that. It's what they said at graduation. He heard Veronica tease her with it once or twice. He was pretty sure he'd heard Beaver call her Cindy. There's no way he'd been calling her the wrong name for the last two months. He only did that with skanky one-night-stands whose names weren't worth learning and he hadn't had one of those in weeks. He'd had sex with some random sorority girl at the Pi Sig house after they got back from Squaw Valley but he spent the whole time wondering what Mac would be like in bed. Had he thought about it, he may have realized that he bedded the petite brunette based on her resemblance to Mac. That's when he came up with this idea to find out and now he was blowing it by calling her the wrong name.

Understanding part of his distress, Mac let him off the hook and patted his hand. "Yes, it's my name but until I heard you say it, I didn't always like it."

Dick positively beamed at her confession and nodded his head. He was thrilled to learn that she liked it when he called her Cindy but she didn't care for it when other people did. It was like their secret. _So Ghostworld actually likes being called Cindy? Sweet._

After they shared a chocolate mousse made of soy, carob and tofu, Mac excused herself to the ladies' room as Dick paid the bill. She checked her makeup, brushed her hair, reapplied some perfume to certain strategic pulse points and took a shot of breath spray. He was waiting for her in the lobby when she emerged and reached his hand out to take hers after giving the valet the ticket to return his car.

They stood there stupidly grinning at one another, while Dick playfully swung their joined hands between them. When the valet drove up with Dick's sports car, Mac made her move. Reaching up and accepting a little help from Dick who bent his head more toward her level, Mac planted a chaste kiss similar in intensity to the third one they'd shared on New Year's Eve on his lips. "Thank you for an amazing dinner."

"Whatever," Dick shrugged. "I was kinda shocked I liked vegetables this much. Go figure."

"They were okay too," Mac quipped moving toward the exit after playfully wrinkling her nose at him.

Chuckling but not letting go of her hand, Dick obediently followed her. He opened the car door and helped her inside. While she was somewhat distracted putting on her seatbelt, Dick ducked his head into the car to capture her lips in a real kiss, gently seeking admission into her mouth which was immediately granted. When Mac began to thread her right hand through the hair at the back of his neck, Dick broke the kiss. "You're welcome." Closing the door, he jauntily sauntered around the front of the vehicle only taking his eyes off her to tip the valet who was holding his door open. "So, like, whaddya wanna do now?"

Without hesitation, Mac replied, "Let's go back to your house."


	4. Dining Out

**A/N: Thank you to those of you who found this story & who have been reading. Special thanks to those of you who have sent me feedback. The story starts to heat up & earn it's rating in this chapter. **

# ~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Mac suggested they go back to the beach house, more electricity shot through Dick's body, this time straight to his groin. _Damn, she wasn't even touching me._ He was relieved when he remembered the maid routinely changed all the linens on Fridays. "Your wish is like my command, Cindy." Once he merged onto the highway, Dick reached over to take her small hand in his larger one for the twenty-minute drive to Neptune. Of course, a twenty minute drive on the 405 never takes less than an hour, especially when you're in a hurry, and this night was no exception.

Along the way, Mac fiddled with the radio. They bantered. They joked but they didn't have any real conversation. Both were acutely aware of the alternatives and ramifications of what could potentially happen when they got back to the beach house. Neither was sure if they were more afraid of what could happen, or the possibility that nothing would.

When they pulled up in front of the beach house, Dick took a calming breath trying desperately to exude an air of confidence he wasn't feeling. "We're here," he announced more for something to say than because he was worried that Mac wouldn't know where they were. "Casa Casablancas."

Mac was comforted by both his uneasiness and his attempt to cover it up. The longer than expected car ride had sobered her up and diminished her own confidence. She wasn't quite sure where this was going or where she wanted it to go. She knew full well that Dick wasn't exactly a one woman man so she was trying to mentally convince herself that she would be okay with crossing that line and being a one night stand. She'd never done that and wasn't sure she'd be able to look him in the eye again after they'd seen each other naked.

Stepping quickly around the vehicle Dick opened the door and extended his hand to help Mac out. "Wanna take a walk on the beach? 'Cause the beach is totally the Dick's domain."

Mac shook her head and tugged her wrap around her shoulders to guard against the night air. Her thin silk blouse and high heels really weren't suitable for a moonlit stroll on the sand in February, even with a wrap. "It's a little cold."

The words automatically slipped out before he realized who he was addressing. "I'll keep you warm, babe," Dick promised draping an arm across her shoulders and snuggling her closer to him. The bold, overstated cockiness was part of his repartee. It felt natural to him but Mac was usually repulsed by Dick when he acted like a Neanderthal. He waited to gauge her response, hoping he hadn't blown it.

Without distancing herself from him because she was grateful for both his warmth and that Dick was treating her like a normal girl rather than a prized fragile doll, Mac patted his upper stomach and suggested, "Let's go in the house instead."

"Whatever," Dick nodded as he maneuvered them inside. Once across the threshold things were simultaneously familiar and different. Disentangling herself from Dick's one armed embrace, Mac walked toward the living room and dropped her wrap. Dick headed into the kitchen. "You want a water or something?" he asked fishing a beer out of the 'fridge.

He didn't have a chance to open it before Mac startled him with her reply, "Do you have any wine?" She hardly ever drank and they'd already shared one bottle at dinner. Dick had taken it easy because he knew he had to drive them back to Neptune.

"I doubt it, unless you left some here. We got beer, twisted tea, rum, tequila, scotch . . . um . . . there should be some vodka somewhere but I don't know where exactly. You can check the bar outside."

Mac wandered over to the counter separating the two rooms. "Beer, then, I guess."

"Are you sure you should be drinking?"

"You are," Mac nodded toward his unopened beer.

"Yeah, but I'm a professional party animal," bragged Dick puffing out his chest for emphasis, "and you're . . . well, you're not."

"I think we can risk it." She reached in, and grabbed his beer off the counter. Twisting it open, she drank straight from the bottle.

"So not cool, dude," Dick whined somewhat taken aback but more amused by her uncharacteristic behavior. "That was totally my beer. Get your own."

Retreating from the counter, Mac gently swung the bottle enticingly in front of him by the neck. "I'm willing to share if you come and get it." She wasn't only talking about the beverage.

Dick didn't have to be invited twice. He was around the counter in seconds, but Mac dodged sideways toward the couch and away from his grasp. She was able to take a few more sips evading his long arms as she made him chase her. Rather than continue to play her games, Dick climbed over the couch to wrap her up and wrest the beer from her so he could take a long drink. "Stealing a man's beer is so not cool, Mac. It's sar- . . . secra-"

"Sacrilege?" Mac supplied.

"It's just wrong." He tried to look down at her sternly but they both cracked up when their eyes met.

With his arm still around her, in part to keep her away from his beer, Dick maneuvered them onto the couch. "Wanna play a game?"

In the few minutes between the car and the couch, Mac had made her decision. College was ending. She could avoid Dick for the rest of the semester if that's what it took, but she was sick of being the good girl. If he did anything else half as well as he kissed, this could be a spectacular night – the kind of night that geeky computer techs didn't often experience.

The sexually charged response on the tip of her tongue wouldn't come out of her mouth. "If that's what you want . . . ," she replied seductively, sliding her small hand from his knee along the muscles of his thigh and back again hoping that he understood that while she did want to play, it wasn't with video games.

Deliberately finishing the beer without taking his eyes off the challenge in hers, Dick leaned forward and placed the now empty bottle on the coffee table in front of them. "Cool!" As he moved backwards, he rotated his body more towards hers. "Let the games begin!"

Instantly Dick's luscious, full lips were covering hers and his free hand was tangling in Mac's long hair as he attacked her mouth. This kiss was unlike any they had shared previously – it was hot and urgent, filled with passion and promises of more to come. Mac yielded welcomingly to his oral onslaught. This was the fire she had been craving her entire life. Dick's lips were soft but firm against hers. His tongue was insistent, sliding smoothly along hers but needing to explore her entire mouth. It was as though he were claiming her, making her his, all his and only his, ruining her for other men, with just his kisses.

Although far slighter then him, Mac used all of her weight to ease them backwards. Dick's body instinctively knew what she wanted. He arched up to allow her to slide under him before he covered her body with his without breaking the exquisite torture he continued to inflict on her mouth. Mac wriggled underneath him seeking that perfect connection. When she found it, she ground her hips up against the growing bulge she encountered in his pants. By way of response Dick extricated his hand from her hair and wedged it between their bodies. He also shifted his upper body slightly toward the back of the couch, taking most of his weight off her but keeping their groins flush.

This new position afforded him the access he desired. Starting at her waist and stomach Dick used his hand to caress the softness of her blouse while simultaneously pulling it out of her jeans. When it was free, he slid his hands over her torso and ground into her when she moaned in pleasure. He palmed one breast through the luxurious fabric, then moved to play with the other. This time he kneaded the tender flesh before unbuttoning her blouse. Dick's fingers nimbly flicked open the front clasp of her bra. Mac was impressed with his dexterity; he was impressed with her foresight.

As he pushed the fabric apart to give himself better access, Mac began nibbling on his bottom lip, pulling back from the deep kisses only long enough to allow air to refill her lungs. She had been running her hands sensuously up and down the powerful muscles of his back, massaging him in her explorations. Dick trailed kisses lightly along her cheek and chin, to her chest. She allowed her hands to slip down to his firm butt and grind him more into her heated core. Drawing his head back to feast on her naked breasts with his hungry eyes, Dick moaned, "Damn, Cindy. You been holding out on the DickMeister."

Mac usually wore baggy clothes and the silk blouse hadn't exactly been form fitting. Even her swimsuits were modest. Until that moment Dick hadn't realized that Mac was actually sporting a pair of 32C tits.

Wasting no more time, Dick pushed her breasts together and buried his face in her cleavage enjoying the feel of her fleshy globes smacking the sides of his head. Like the little kid he was at heart, Dick began making motorboat noises, which caused Mac to laugh and jiggle her boobs more, to his utter delight. When the momentary silliness subsided, Dick latched onto a nipple and swirled his tongue around the rosy tip, causing it to peak in sweet agony, while his hand excited the other breast. The moans escaping from her lips sounded foreign to her own ears, but they were music to Dick's.

Mac was in heaven, but regained enough composure to return the favors. Dragging one of her hands from his tight ass, she unbuttoned his shirt as fast as she could without the benefit of her brain – which was on sensory overload. Dick helped by untucking his own shirt. When that last button had come undone, Dick discontinued his mammary feast to resume passionately kissing her, because this allowed the fiery flesh of his bare chest to press against her magnificent breasts. Mac was certain she was going to have an orgasm just from that contact as Dick undulated to maximize the friction between their bodies.

Writhing underneath him, Mac deescalated the kissing so she could breathe. When his tongue left her mouth to tease her ear, Mac wrapped one of her legs around his thighs and bucked up against his erection crying out his name in a breathy voice, "Oh, Dick!"

"Yeah, Cindy?" he murmured into her ear, his voice husky with lust. The warmth tickled her and sent additional shockwaves through her overly stimulated body. Even though she couldn't see his face because her eyes were closed, Mac knew he was smirking. You didn't need eyes to see that level of confidence. If she thought the sound of her name on his lips had been amazing before, it paled in comparison to the resonance it caused when he said it while their bare chests were pressed together.

Rather than fight it, Mac decided to give in and stroke his ego; it was obviously well deserved confidence, "You're really good at this."

Dick stopped his oral exploration of her ear to look her in the eyes before agreeing with her, "Whad you expect?"

Rolling her eyes in response, Mac ran her hands under the sides of Dick's open shirt to unabashedly explore his entire back. She couldn't believe how incredible the muscles felt as they rippled under her touch.

When the kiss broke, Dick slowly trailed ever softer butterfly kisses as he pulled away. Mac was confused when he stood up but she couldn't help but admire the view. His lips were swollen from her kisses and traces of her lips gloss were visible on the outer corners of his succulent mouth. His hair had the beginnings of sex head because she had been raking her fingers through the long silky strands. His shirt was hanging open but the bulge in his pants showed no signs of subsiding. He was breathing more heavily than normal causing his six pack abs to undulate slightly. She imagined she looked similarly disheveled and somewhat vulnerable lying wantonly on his couch with her breasts on display and her legs apart.

The longing in Dick's eyes made her shiver even with her heated center. "Damn," he muttered drinking in the sight of this lascivious beauty on his couch. He wanted to scoop her into his arms, carry her into his bed and worship at the altar of this goddess for all eternity, but this wasn't some random girl, this was Mac, so his usual responses were off limits. He had to get this under control or he was gonna blow it.

Smiling, he dropped to his knees on the floor and stroked her face. "Hey."

"Hey, yourself." Mac sat up and reached for another kiss.

Dick kissed her lightly but pulled back when she tried to slip her tongue into his mouth. "We gotta talk."

Dumfounded Mac asked, "Now?"

Dick chuckled. She sounded like him. He exhaled deeply. "What're we like doing here?"

"Um. . . don't you know?" she teased, gesturing between them at their partial nudity.

"Mac, . . . Cindy . . ." he began, "I…ahhh. . . I've never . . . you know . . . done this before."

She smirked, throwing a version of one of his favorite lines back at him. "That's not what she said."

He frowned. "Of course I've done this before, but not _this_." He pointed back and forth between the two of them in a frustrated attempt to non-verbally explain the difference between what he had done in the past with other girls and what they were doing now. He didn't have the words to express how different it was.

Mac ran her hands through her hair in annoyance then threw her head back on the couch, sighing. She closed her eyes, exhaled heavily and began buttoning her blouse.

Dick placed a hand over hers to prevent her from buttoning the second button. "I'm

not saying I don't wanna, but I . . . . I totally like need to know what you want."

"Didn't I make that pretty clear? Sexy lingerie . . . " She jerked part of her bra over a breast so he could clearly see the black lace.

"Nice," Dick hissed, practically drooling while mentally kicking himself for not taking the time to appreciate the bra before flicking it open. He didn't know what else to say.

As usual Mac had to be the brains of this duo. "What's so different? If I was any other woman what would you be doing?"

Not having a filter, Dick's answer was brutally blunt, "Pounding into her in the middle of my bed and making her see God."

"Sounds good to me. What's the problem?" Mac was starting to lose it. Too many seconds of awkward silence filled the room. "Is it me?" _What was it with Casablancas men who had no desire for her_? She had made her up mind to have a night of unbridled lust with the biggest man whore in Southern California but he didn't want her. She couldn't catch a break where sex was concerned.

"Of course it's you," Dick replied without comprehending that his answer sounded like rejection.

Blinking hard to prevent the tears from falling, Mac lurched to a sitting position. "I'll go."

"Go?" Dick yelped. "What?! One minute you're practically begging me to do you and now you like wanna leave?" He stood. "Whatever. I totally don't understand women." He massaged his hands over his face.

"I want to leave because you don't want 'to do' me." She stood next to him, venom in her eyes and tone as she looked down at him still kneeling before her. "I don't . . . I thought the great Dick Casablancas would do any woman with a pulse now all of sudden I'm not good enough for you!"

"Whoa! It's not like that at all. For a smart chick you got this all wrong!" Dick finally understood, even if Mac didn't. He rose, grabbed her shoulders, and forced her to hear him. "I don't want to just 'do' you . . . Cindy." He softened his voice and looked at her earnestly. "I . . . like . . . I wanna make love to you. . . and . . . and well, I don't freakin' know how. Okay?" Dick was genuinely embarrassed by this confession of what he perceived to be a weakness. "I'm a _wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am_ kinda guy – nail and bail - and . . .this . . . this is well . . . it's like totally something else." The emotion pouring off his words was almost painful to hear, but then he had to go and ruin it. "Christ. I'm turning into a puss-. . . into a chick."

Chuckling softly and cupping his cheek in her small hand, Mac gazed lovingly into his stormy but uncharacteristically shy eyes. She finally understood; Dick respected her and he didn't know how to deal with that. She urged his head down to hers and gently kissed him. She hoped that action was enough to tamp down her own emotions because she didn't want to start crying even from pure joy. Pulling back, she smiled flirtatiously. "I think you'll do okay. We've got all weekend."

"But it's like our first date and, well, . . . you're not that kind of girl." He encouraged her to sit back down and knelt before her again.

"What kind of girl would that be?"

"The slutty kind. You know, one who has sex with some random dude just because he bought her a fancy dinner."

Mac chuckled softly. "You are pretty random, but do you honestly think that I'm willing to have sex with you, after all this time because you bought me dinner?"

"No and that's why I think I should probably take you home or go outside an' jump in the ocean or something," Dick confessed.

"Do you want to take me home or go outside and jump in the ocean?"

"Hell no! It's like totally cold out there an' shit," Dick stated the obvious.

"What do you want to do?" Mac asked even though she already knew the answer.

"I . . . I want to jump you! Duh. You're hot. Who wouldn't wanna jump you?"

"So what's stopping you?"

Dick groaned even as his hands shook in frustration. He stared at her in disbelief, clenching and releasing his fists. "You. You're not that kinda girl," he repeated.

"Didn't we cover this already?"

"Yeah and we decided that you totally don't have sex on a first date."

"No." Mac was enjoying tormenting him a little. "I explained that we weren't having sex simply because you bought me dinner."

Dick mistakenly thought he'd finally won this debate. "Whatever, but it's why . . . ." he exhaled audibly blowing the hair out of his eyes, not believing his own ears, "Why I'm gonna take you home now." He moved one leg to place his foot on the floor readying himself to stand, and held his hand out to Mac who was sprawled backwards on the couch with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. He had a feeling that he was missing something.

"But I don't want to go home," she protested. "I wanna stay here with you."

"But it's our first date," Dick insisted.

"Technically," Mac agreed.

"Whaddya mean technically?" Dick inquired. "I asked you out on Wednesday. You totally said yes. We had an awesome friggin' dinner." He shook his head and frowned slightly still trying to figure out how anyone could make a great meal without meat. "And now I'm gonna take you home like a good boyfriend does on . . . after a first date."

"Boyfriend, huh?"

"Boyfriend," Dick confirmed leaving no room for debate.

Dick was still kneeling between Mac's legs but she'd made no further move to re-button her shirt. Dick was finding it hard to keep his eyes on her face with her bare breasts right in front of him. Mac took hold of one of his hands that had been planted on the couch alongside her thigh. Bringing it to her lips she kissed his palm then placed his open hand on her boob. Instinct took over as he kneaded the tender flesh absently, teasing the nipple into a hard pebble.

"Dating is all about getting to know the other person," she explained.

"If you say so. I always thought it was all about trying to score," Dick admitted but he didn't stop caressing her.

"Sooooo. . . ." Mac looked at him expectantly. When he didn't respond, she continued, "Why aren't you trying?"

He didn't know how to answer that more directly then he already had. He wasn't trying to score because she wasn't that kind of girl.

"I have it on good authority that you'll probably get lucky." Mac winked at a startled Dick as she slipped her hands back under his open shirt to caress the tops of his shoulders in an effort to push his oxford all the way off.

"Not that I don't really appreciate the offer, but seriously for once in my life I don't just want to 'get lucky'. It's our first date." After raking his hands through his own hair, Dick grabbed both of her hands to still them in one of his. "I mean it. . . . I wanna go slow and like do this right."

"Why can't we do both? Slow . . . and right . . . and right now?" Mac leaned forward to resume kissing the man who was still kneeling before her.

Dick allowed himself to enjoy the feel of her back in his arms from this angle but gradually broke the kiss after only a few moments. "First date . . . not that kind of girl." She didn't say anything so he continued. "Please, Cindy. I'm . . . I'm like really trying to . . .ah . .. do, . . . you know, the right thing here. This is like all new to me. Don't make it harder," he pleaded.

Mac couldn't resist. She dropped a hand down to graze across the erection in his jeans. "It gets harder?"

Grabbing her hand, he jerked it away from his crotch. "Jesus! Stop, seriously. Control ain't exactly my middle name."

The edge in his voice told her playtime was over. She brought both of her hands up and laced them behind his neck. "You really are incredibly sweet."

Dick looked away, momentarily embarrassed by her praise. He wasn't used to those kinds of compliments. Most of the time women told him that he fit his name.

"I know this is technically our first date, but if you think about it, we've been dating . . . sort of . . . without meaning to or realizing it . . . for the last two and a half years or at the very least since New Years," she postulated reasonably.

Dick's knees were starting to hurt so he moved to sit next to her. Mac loosened her hold on him to allow the repositioning so they each had a leg tucked under themselves and one foot on the floor. Their upper bodies were directly facing one other, and he took one of her hands in his and intertwined their fingers together. "You can't date somebody if you don't know it. Even I know that."

"Well, we did," Mac concluded. "Think about it. What do people do on dates? They hang out. They talk. They play games. They go to the movies. They call each other. They go places." When Dick didn't say anything, Mac prodded further. "Think about all the things we've done together."

"So Squaw Valley; lunch before film class; all the parties, the gaming marathons, and barbeques here; last summer when we went to Knott's Berry Farm; even going to see _him_ . . . you're like telling me they were all dates?" Dick looked at her suspiciously. Mac nodded and he joked, "You couldda told me we were dating, 'cause I think I cheated on you."

Mac burst out laughing at that. "I cheated on you too then."

"Dude. . ." Dick acted shocked and hurt.

"That's my point. Even though this was technically our first actual - defined as such - date, it's not like we just hooked up and we don't know each other."

"So what you're telling me is that I've been waiting almost three years for you to put out? Damn. I don't think I've ever waited three hours for a chick before."

"Well, you are a man whore."

"Maybe, but I'm your man whore now!" Dick embraced his new title with gusto before attacking her to resume their make out session. After a few minutes, he broke them apart to ask, "So now what?"

A huge grin crossed Mac's face as she responded, "So now there was something about a bed and I believe 'making me see God.'"


	5. Seeing God

**WARNING:** This chapter earns its M rating. I wouldn't read this at work.

#~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Dick's megawatt smile could have lit up a small city. "Damn!" He bent down to kiss Mac one last time before scooping her up into his strong arms and throwing her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. As he headed for the stairs, she squealed with laughter when he squeezed her ass and declared, "Deep down under all that nerd, I knew you were my kindda chick, Cindy MacKenzie."

Taking the stairs two at a time, Dick bounded into his bedroom and carefully deposited his prize on his bed. She had flipped a light switch when they passed by the wall. Before he could follow her down to the mattress, she addressed a practical consideration and wiggled her foot at him, "Shoes."

Sliding his hands the length of her body, he knelt at the foot of the bed. "Allow me." Lifting one of her legs, he sensuously pulled down the zipper of her boot while boring into her with his eyes.

As Dick was stripping off her footwear, Mac shrugged out of her still open shirt and tossed it and the bra on the floor. By the time Dick had her shoes off, she had undone her jeans and was pushing them off her hips. He obliged by sliding them completely off her legs, leaving her sprawled out in the middle of his bed clad only in black silk panties. He allowed himself the luxury of drinking in her creamy skin, her full breasts and flat belly, but he wasn't idle as he stared. His own shirt and jeans hit the floor mere seconds after hers had been removed.

"Lights?" she mentioned, expecting that he would turn them off.

Crawling up her body he refused. "On. I wanna watch . . . I have totally got to see your face the first time I make you cum."

"Ooooohhhhhhh," was all Mac managed to utter before he resumed kissing her. After lovingly plundering her mouth, Dick's hands blazed a trail down her body for his lips to follow. He used his own body to pry her legs apart during his descent. When his face was even with her center, he rubbed his nose and mouth over her panty covered mound, thrilled to find that filmy material was already damp. "You're sooo wet," he enthused.

All she could do was wordlessly agree, "Umhuuummm." _So much for frozen from the waist down. _

The intoxicating scent of her was more arousing that anything he'd ever encountered. His talented fingers slid the panties to the side to give his long digits access to her secret folds. She whimpered as he stroked a finger lightly along her moist opening and mewled when he withdrew to remove the silk barrier altogether.

His breath was hot against her glistening curls. He kissed the inside of each thigh and worked his way up to her hips around that special triangle of hair then stroked downward until his tongue was able to swipe her clit. Arching her hips up to press into his mouth she ran her fingers through his blond hair seeking to keep his head in that exact spot. "Easy, tiger," he instructed. "I got this."

Mac abided by his wishes and released her hold on his head to give him the freedom of movement he needed to fully pleasure her. Instead, she twisted her hands into the duvet while bucking up against his mouth Flicking his tongue rapidly against her most sensitive bud, he shook his head from side to side to vary the pressure and increase her pleasure. "Oh my God!" she praised and continued to babble words of encouragement in a stream of consciousness, verbalizing her unadulterated enjoyment of his ministrations. "You are unbelievable!" By the time he slid a long, thick finger inside her secret channel Mac was a pile of electrified Jello® under him. It only took a few strokes before she contracted around him. He slid in a second finger. Without breaking the contact while her orgasm peaked, Dick beamed, watching her eyes roll back in her head and her face flush in pure pleasure. He was so glad he'd left the lights on.

Dick had intended to wipe his face before kissing Mac again once he'd worked his way back up to her head but she had other ideas. Pulling him to her Mac kissed him deeply then proceeded to clean all of her juices from his face.

"Wow, I wasn't expecting that," Dick grinned.

Mac blushed. "Me neither." She felt she had to explain because what she had just done was not something she'd ever done. "I . . . wanted to kiss you. That was so . . . amazing doesn't seem to adequately cover it and when I kissed you that's when I realized that I was tasting . . . me . . . on your lips . . . and . . . wow. . . . I just wanted more. That's weird, right?"

"Hell no," pulling her closer, Dick disagreed. "That was hot!"

They lay there for a few minutes, breathing heavily and basking in the afterglow of the short respite. "Where have you been all my life, Cindy?"

She chuckled but didn't answer him. She was too busy working her hands into his boxers. Pushing him onto his back, Mac straddled him. "Time to return the favor."

"You don't have to," Dick demurred. He still wasn't certain where this was going.

Dipping her head to swirl one of his nipples in her mouth, Mac assured him when she released the hardening bud, "I want to."

Mac had never been big on oral sex. Bronson never asked. She tried a few times with Max but she just didn't enjoy it and Max never pushed. It was too intimate to try with the other guys she'd dated casually over the years. Tonight here with Dick she wanted to. She wanted to feel him; she wanted to know she had the power to make him moan and now after what he had done for her, she knew she needed to do this for herself.

Still she worried that her inexperience was going to be betray her. Heaven knows Dick had been with far more worldly women as well as many sluttier ones. She hoped she could compare. She wasn't worried about disease because for all his faults, she knew Dick was regularly tested. The fact that his brother had given Veronica Chlamydia that Cassidy had contracted from Woody Goodman made Dick realize that he had to be serious about his health, especially when he was casual about his choice in partners.

Mimicking Dick's motions, Mac kissed her way down his sculpted body. She stopped to trail her fingers along that soft ridge of baby fine blonde hair that began at his belly button and disappeared under his boxers until she made them disappear too.

Once she had him naked, Mac took her time. She stroked her small hands along his length marveling at how his penis jumped in response to her touch. Her explorations were hardly skilled but Dick was enthralled. Cindy MacKenzie, the smartest nerd he'd ever met, was giving him a hand job. When she reached out that little pick tongue of hers and began licking him like her favorite ice cream cone, he thought he'd died and gone to heaven. She swirled her tongue experimentally around the purple head of his cock. "Use your hands," he begged. Following his instructions Mac kept her mouth in contact with him as she pumped his length. She sputtered when she tried to take more of him into her inexperienced mouth. To avoid gagging, she concentrated on the head and supplemented her efforts with her hands. It took every ounce of self-control Dick could muster to keep his hands off her head. He knew if he touched her, she'd feel trapped and he wanted her to be relaxed.

"I'm not gonna last," Dick warned her, tugging at her arms in the hope of making her stop before he lost control. When she didn't take her mouth away Dick tried to think of anything to delay his orgasm.

Mac sensed what he was doing. "I want to," she choked out trying not to break her fumbling rhythm.

Never one to not give a woman exactly what she asked for, Dick released himself into her willing mouth. It was more than Mac could handle but she tried valiantly.

Dick cradled her into his side as she tried to wipe her mouth. Never one to pass up the opportunity to tell a joke, especially a dirty one, Dick quipped, "Good to know my little vegetarian occasionally likes some meat."

Mac playfully swatted him. She wasn't sure that her brain was still functioning. Dick didn't seem to notice. "I'm gonna go get some water. When I come back, I should be ready to go again," he promised rising from the bed and heading for the door.

"Really?" Mac asked his retreating tush. _Of course Dick walked around his house naked. Why should he put clothes on that spectacular body? _ She certainly didn't want him to cover up that luscious form.

Dick returned drinking from a water bottle and carrying another one for her. Mac propped herself up on her elbow to turn toward him and take the proffered beverage. She was thirstier that she realized. She was also pleased to recognize that when Dick entered and saw her lying naked on his bed, his cock twitched in anticipation. _Damn, that boy had one short refraction time._

"You look good in my bed, Cindy." He leered at her. "You should definitely spend more time here."

"Hmmm," she put a finger over her mouth and tapped her upper lip as if she was considering his proposal. "I'll have to think about it."

Dick started to tickle her but she squirmed away from him. He didn't initially chase her.

"What's in it for me?" she teased.

"That's easy. . . . me! You get the Dick all to yourself."

Moving back toward him, Mac stroked a hand across his chest, "Sounds good." She couldn't help herself. Compared to him, the other guys she'd been with were sickly boys and soft, pasty geeks. Dick was tan, sculpted muscle, angles and plains; he was 100% grade A Male, with a capital M. She was enjoying simply touching him. Despite any prior contact they may have shared as friends, this was like finally getting to savor the forbidden fruit.

"Can't keep your hands off me, huh?" Dick joked, reclining backwards with his hands pillowed under his head, elbows jutting out, giving her permission to explore at her leisure but not moving to touch her.

"You're such a jerk," she retorted untruthfully as she dipped her head down to kiss him. Their tongues entwined. Dick wrapped his arms around her smaller frame and dragged her on top of him. She came willingly. Once she was stabilized atop him, she seized the opportunity to kiss his whole face: his hairline, his temples, the apples of his cheeks, the tip of his nose. She nibbled an ear experimentally which earned her a sexy grumble. Meanwhile the lazy exploratory circles he had been tracing on her back had enlarged to allow him to massage the globes of her ass. He maneuvered her so she was sliding along his length increasing the pleasure and friction between them. "Mmmmm, Dick," she murmured appreciatively before latching her mouth onto a pulse point in his neck.

Fumbling Dick flailed an arm sideways to open the nightstand without interrupting their activities. Groping around in the drawer he finally grabbed the familiar foil packages. With a strip in his hand, Dick rolled them over so he was on top. His manhood was positioned between her slick folds increasing their mutual arousal.

"Last chance, babe," he cautioned. "Are you really sure about this?"

"Don't I feel sure?" Mac challenged.

"Cindy, I'm serious. I really don't want you to like wake up tomorrow and regret this or totally resent me or something. I couldn't handle it."

_Maybe he was unsure_, Mac thought suddenly. "Are you sure?"

"You really gonna ask me questions when there is like no blood whatsoever in my brain?" To emphasize his point, Dick rubbed himself against her entrance more forcefully.

Taking the foil packet from him, Mac ripped it open. "Less talking, more action."

Dick shifted slightly so Mac could roll the condom over him. When her hands left his shaft, he pushed home with a bit of difficulty given his size, complicated by how long she'd been celibate, until he was finally able to sheathe his full length inside her.

"Oh my God!" she cried at the same time he grunted, "Fuck, you're tight."

Worried he was hurting her, Dick stilled his movements but remained buried to the hilt inside her. She opened her eyes not understanding why he stopped moving. "Hi!" he chirped, grinning down at her stupidly but with pure happiness pouring from every fiber of his being. He was grateful for the desensitizing effects of the latex barrier between them.

"Hi," she replied not knowing what else to say. Mac welcomed the opportunity to adjust to his girth. He was sooooo filling and she was ecstatic. Sex with Dick was more amazing than anything she'd ever experienced and they were just getting started.

Brushing a strand of hair from her face, Dick praised, "You are so totally hot, you know that?" She looked like she was going to melt and he began slowly rocking his hips, gradually lengthening his strokes to enhance her pleasure.

He kept his movements steady and gentle until she began to move with him. When they found a rhythm, he accelerated the pace bringing her along with him. She was babbling under him and he'd never been prouder knowing how much pleasure he was giving her. If anything, her responses made his cock even harder and bigger. Snaking a hand between their bodies, Dick unerringly found her secret button which caused her to start chanting "Oh my God! Oh Dick! Oh my God!" over and over. When he felt her inner muscles start to clench around him and her entire body convulse, he ordered her to look at him. "Open your eyes!" She was unable to do anything but obey. Her storm turned eyes met his deep baby blues as the force of her orgasm shook them both. For some reason Bryan Adam's lyrics flashed through Dick's mind; something about really loving a woman and seeing your unborn children in her eyes. _Where the hell did that come from?_ he wondered momentarily before the little blood that was left in his brain rushed out again.

Dick removed his finger and brushed her wetness along Mac's lips before slurping the finger into his own mouth. He slowed the movement of his hips but made no move to pull out. Rather, when her breathing started to return to normal, he bragged, "Got one."

Mac giggled. "Yeah, you did." As a reward she kissed him deeply then rocked in an attempt to turn them over. She didn't have the strength or body mass to reposition them without his cooperation so she expressed her desire, "I wanna be on top."

Grinning, Dick encircled her waist with both hands, preparing to reverse their positions. "Hold the condom," he instructed which she did. She wasn't quite used to Dick being the take-charge guy but in this instance he clearly knew more about what he was doing then she did, so she did as she was told. With her assistance, Dick was able to grant her wish without disconnecting them.

"Wow." Mac had never experienced anything like Dick. Now that she was on top she was more uncertain about what she wanted or if she could please him. Straddling him as she remained impaled on his erect shaft, she sat up and looked down at him. "Hi," she repeated his earlier greeting, stalling for time so she could consider her options.

Child that he could be, Dick took advantage of this new position to fondle her generous breasts. "Hi. How are you my beauties?" He spoke to her boobs in a childish sing-song voice, manipulating them as though they were fleshy puppets.

Mac giggled at his antics and bucked her hips. She moved to lower her breasts to his waiting mouth and found the new angle enabled her to slide up and down his length comfortably. He groaned appreciatively but didn't stop his oral exploration of her tits. After letting her ride him at her leisure for a few minutes, Dick again reached between them to stimulate her clit. It didn't take more than a few minutes for her to have her third orgasm of the night. He was thrilled to learn that he could make this woman multi-orgasmic. "That's three!"

When she came back to earth Dick flipped them over again, then pulled out of her to stand on the side of the bed. Mac wasn't sure what was happening when he grabbed her legs and yanked her sideways to the edge of the bed so that he was standing between her legs as they dangled off the mattress. He took his cock in his hand and buried himself in her welcoming depths. Once he was fully inside, he reached back to grab both her of calves, pushing her legs up and out to make more room for him to maneuver. He drove into her mercilessly thrilling her each time his balls slapped her entrance. Knowing he was close, Dick demanded, "Touch yourself."

Mac's eyes flew open. She'd never done that but then again, this was apparently a night of firsts. Given how amazing it had been when Dick provided her with direct stimulation, she tentatively complied. She was no stranger to the art of self-pleasure but she'd never touched herself while someone else was there.

Dick wasn't going to let her get shy now. "Come with me," he ordered. She sped up her movements and started to close her eyes. "Open your eyes," he again commanded and she did. As Dick emptied himself into the condom, Mac enjoyed a fourth orgasm. _Good to know that quiet little Cindy was so responsive. _When their bodies stilled, he withdrew, taking care to hold the condom in place until he could safely remove it and throw it away.

Mac couldn't move. She didn't think any of the bones in her body were still made of calcium; it was if they had turned to soup.

Seeing her lying there, half off the bed with her toes barely scraping the floor, breathing heavily and covered in a fine sheen of sweat, Dick thought she'd never looked more beautiful. He brushed away a strand of hair that had become plastered to her face. Pulling down the bedcovers and gathering her into his arms, he tucked them both inside. Snuggling her to him, Dick kissed her temple. "That was awesome."

"Umhum," Mac agreed because the power of speech had not yet returned. "You . . . wow."

"Who's da man?" Dick bragged, quite proud of himself that he'd rendered her speechless.

They lay together for a few minutes allowing their heart rates and breathing to return to normal until Mac moved to get the water bottle she hadn't finished earlier. After replenishing the fluids, she had calmed enough to speak. "Um. . . Dick, do you have a tee shirt or something I could sleep in?"

Dick appreciatively viewed her nakedness that Mac hadn't realized was fully on display once she had sat up. When she caught him she blushed and tried to use the sheet to cover herself. He stopped her movements. "No."

"Dick, you've got about a million t-shirts," Mac observed. "Give me one. Please."

Snaking an arm out to pull her back down to him, Dick refused. "No. I so totally want you naked in my arms all night. This bed is a clothes free zone. Get used to it." With that he turned off the lights.

Mac was too tired and sated to argue. She was still on an endorphin high. She rolled her eyes but sank back down under the covers and was again enveloped in his strong, protective embrace. When she turned on her side, Dick spooned up behind her and wiggled her into the position he wanted. It was like her was using her as his own oversized personal teddy bear. Kissing her temple, Dick whispered in the dark, "G'night, Cindy. I love you."

Mac froze. She wasn't ready for declarations of love but then again she hadn't been ready for most of the last several hours. When she had told Dick to bring her here she'd been prepared to have sex, but she never dreamed they'd have mind-blowing sex and that she'd have four orgasms in one night. She wasn't sure she'd had four orgasms in her life and none of them matched the intensity of these. Mac finally understood what people were talking about when they said 'the Earth moved'. The rational side of her brain tried to take over. _This was Dick after all; he probably said that to every woman he bedded. There was nothing to worry about it. He couldn't possibly mean it. It was just an expression like saying 'I love ice cream' or 'have a nice day'._ Satisfied, Mac drifted off to sleep, weary from the wine, the sex and the late, now early morning, hour.


	6. Cupid Doesn't Suck

**A/N: For a hidden story the statistics tell me people are reading this. I do appreciate all those who have provided feedback. I really would like to know if people think I captured their voices. I started this fic as a challenge to myself to see if I could write Dick. **

#*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Never having been much of cuddler, Mac woke up a few times during the night when her natural desire to turn over was thwarted by strong, muscular arms encircling her. With extreme effort not to wake Dick, Mac slowly repositioned and then fall back asleep. She was eventually awoken by the combination of light streaming into the room and Dick stroking lightly up and down her front. When he felt her stir, he brushed his fingers through her curls. "Mornin' babe," he murmured nuzzling the back of her neck. "D'you sleep well?"

Mac turned onto her back, thinking that would curtail his ministrations. It had the opposite effect. When she saw his face with his rumpled bed head, she couldn't help but grin. Her smile shot extra blood into his nether regions and she could feel his morning erection pressing urgently into her hip. Dick held fast when she tried to pull away. "Nuh uh," he mumbled nudging her onto her side to resume spooning her. His length was nestled between her butt cheeks as he gently rocked their bodies. After palming both of her breasts for a few moments, he patted around until he retrieved a condom from the open drawer of the nightstand. He rolled it onto himself then lifted her top leg to push himself into her from behind. Both were surprised at how easily he slid in; her body was already learning to anticipate his invasion. This lovemaking session was slow and lazy as one would expect from two lovers just rising from slumber; their whole bodies undulated back and forth in sync without much effort. Like the night before when Dick was close to climaxing he used his talented fingers to manually stimulate Mac so her body led his over the abyss into bliss.

When they were finished, Mac turned to face him, threw caution to the wind and kissed him good morning despite the promise of morning breath squared.

After a few moments of making out, the couple parted to satisfy their need for air. Caressing her face, Dick inquired, "Any regrets?"

Mac was touched. "No," she said shaking her head. "You?"

"Only that I totally didn't do you sooner, babe" Dick confessed.

Mac smiled sadly. "It wouldn't have worked sooner. We weren't ready for each other then."

Dick was skeptical about that pronouncement but knew enough not to start the debate. "Do you wanna come surfing with me this morning?"

"I don't surf," Mac reminded him, chuckling at his odd question.

He shrugged, "Nobody's perfect but . . hey I didn't think that you did . . . well that you did . . . what we did last night, at least not with me. . . and I totally wasn't expecting that and so I thought that well maybe now you did surf and. . ." His voice trailed off. He knew Mac didn't surf but he also thought Mac didn't have sex, at least not with him, so in his mind maybe now she surfed. It had been worth asking. "It's OK. I'll stay here with you."

"No. Go surf. It's what you do." Simply by being noisy on those occasions when she had crashed on the couch, Dick had inadvertently woken Mac up in the morning as he headed out to catch the best waves of the day. Anybody who spent any time around Dick knew it was his favorite time at the beach. She didn't want to interfere with that and she had to be getting home. Parker would probably be worried.

"What're you gonna do?" Dick asked before suggesting, "You could make me breakfast."

Mac frowned, but her annoyance didn't reach her eyes. "Suzy Homemaker I'm not. I'll just go home."

"But I drove you here so I'd have to go with you and I don't want you to leave so that's out."

Mac chuckled. "I have to go home eventually, Dick."

"Eventually is not now," he countered. "Last night you said something about us having all weekend so you like totally have to stay." He was practically whining which Mac found uncharacteristically cute. She usually hated it when Dick whined.

Mac was moved by his obvious desire to spend more time with her. "How about this – you surf and I drive myself home in your car, take a shower, change and come back."

Dick cringed slightly and shook his head. "Nobody drives my car but me. Plus, then I wouldn't get to scrub your back." When Mac blushed at his suggestion, Dick changed the subject. "You can take my truck if you want."

Mac thought that was a ridiculous response but didn't have an alternate proposal. "I can't drive a stick."

Dick offered, "How about this - I surf and you stay here. Go back to sleep. I'll make a totally awesome breakfast then we'll shower together." He leered at her as he renewed that suggestion before continuing, "Then I'll drive you home and bring you back here."

After considering that for a second, Mac agreed to parts of it. "Okay but I have some things I have to get done at home. You can drop me off but then I need a few hours. I promise I'll come back later. Plus, my way, I'll have a car here and won't be dependent on you tomorrow."

Accepting her compromise, Dick kissed the tip of her nose before getting out of bed. "I'll be back around nineish."

Dick grabbed some board shorts out of a drawer then disappeared. Rolling onto her back into the warm void he left, Mac contemplated life and her current situation. She was alone and naked in Dick Casablancas' huge bed after the most incredible night of passion she'd ever experienced, followed by an awesome morning. She had no idea that sex could be that good. _I guess all of Dick's boasting wasn't exaggerated. _ More surprising was his attitude. He genuinely seemed to want her to stay. She'd been around enough mornings to have witnessed Dick disregard many bedmates in the harsh light of day. Usually he wanted them up and out, if he even let them stay the night in the first place. It made her feel good, desired and cherished that he was different – sweeter - with her. He did use the word 'boyfriend' last night so maybe Dick was turning over a new leaf.

After laying there for about a half hour Mac realized she wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep. She allowed herself the indulgence of rolling over to inhale Dick's unique scent off the pillow. _Jeez, when did I turn into a girly, girl? _Apparently sometime last night / this morning when she'd been taken to Nirvana by a real man.

Getting up, Mac grabbed Dick's black oxford from last night off the floor and put it on. As expected, it hung past mid thigh. She had to roll the sleeves up a few more times before they stopped dwarfing her arms. She took a moment to revel in the fact that she was now surrounded by Dick's scent. _This was even better than the pillow_. She picked up her own clothes where they had been disregarded the night before and folded them neatly on the chair in the corner before making the bed. Slipping on her panties, Mac padded downstairs. When she opened the 'fridge to get some juice, she decided to make them both breakfast. Foraging around Mac found some pancake mix and fresh strawberries. Happy with her choice, Mac wandered into the living room to fire up the sound system.

A few minutes later Dick found her dancing around the kitchen whipping up a batch of pancakes. He watched her and was mesmerized by the sight of her in his shirt obviously enjoying herself. She'd only done up a few buttons so her various dance moves afforded him flashes of skin and black panties. A blush came over her when Mac spotted him leaning against the patio door wearing only a towel and grinning like an idiot. He was at her side in four strides, wrapping her up in his arms. "What was your name again? Suzy? Suzy Homemaker?" he teased, nuzzling her and reaching his hand under the hem of her shirt to cup her ass and press her closer to her growing erection.

Disentangling herself from him, she flipped the bubbling batter before it burned. "I seem to have worked up an appetite last night and this morning and thought you might be hungry too."

Oblivious to the cooking food, Dick tried to feast on her. "Oh, I'm starvin'," he assured her.

She could only squeal in mock protest, "Dick!" She playfully batted his arms. "Seriously, put some clothes on and go set the table."

"I'll set the table, but I'm not puttin' clothes on." She looked at him aghast. He shrugged. "We'll just have to take 'em off again when we're done eating. Although I gotta say, you look pretty awesome in my shirt."

They managed to eat breakfast without sweeping all the food onto the floor and going at it on the dining room table although Dick did his best to convince Mac that she would taste better than the pancakes covered in maple syrup. Once the dishes were loaded into the dishwasher, Dick led Mac back upstairs. "C'mon. I can't wait to scrub your back!"

Mac hadn't realized that Dick always intended for them to shower together. This was another one of those things that she had never done. Sure she'd heard about it but her and Bronson hadn't been together that long. Max never seemed interested and she'd never stayed the night with the few other guys she'd been with before Dick.

Sensing her reluctance, Dick joked. "If you care about animals you totally have to care about the water supply. Showering together is good for the environment."

It wasn't his words that won her over, but that devilish twinkle in his eyes. "If you say so," she acquiesced.

The showerhead was one of those oversized rain shower systems. Dick helped her out of his shirt and held her under the warm spray lavishing lather and attention on her whole body while paying special attention to her butt and breasts. She was thrilled to have a reason to run her soapy hands over his entire body. Kneeling down to wash his sculpted legs, Mac couldn't resist using her mouth to make sure he was completely clean _everywhere_. "Can't have sand in all those pesky places," she quipped before her mouth was too full to say anything else.

Dick held the shower walls for support. The things this woman was doing to him with her mouth made him weak in the knees. If the sensations alone weren't enough, knowing that this was Mac made it all the more incredible. _It was always the quiet ones._ Realizing he was about to explode, he warned her off. This time she listened but continued pumping him with her small fist allowing his essence to spew all over the shower until it disappeared down the drain.

Immensely proud of herself, Mac rose to stand before him. He grabbed her and pressed their slick bodies together continuing to mutter his appreciation. "If I didn't think I loved you before, I do now."

Mac stilled the movements of her hands on his back. There was that word again. She willed herself to breathe and not look up at him. It was best to keep her face buried in his chest. She tried to convince herself that most men say that to women who have just performed oral sex. He didn't know what he was saying.

Dick was not always as clueless as people thought. The fact that Mac's movements stopped just after he spoke told him that he'd spooked her. Reaching down he titled her chin up so she had to meet his eyes. "I do you know," he said softly. "I love you, Cindy, and not just because of . . .you know this, or last night." He didn't spell it out. She knew as well as he did what just happened. "You're like my best friend, I mean besides Logan but that's different. You . . . " he didn't know how to explain this or even if he should be he continued anyway. "You understand. You were . . . there and . . . . you're still here . . . and you know for like a chick . . . I mean. . .you're really cool. And we just kinda fit."

Mac knew what he was trying to say. His eyes were filled with sincerity but Mac didn't trust his words. She had convinced herself that he fell in love at the drop of a hat, or at least the drop of the panties. Gazing up at him, she now didn't know what to say.

To fill in the silence and to mask his pain because his declaration wasn't as well received as he wanted, Dick offered, "Don't worry. Ronnie couldn't say it back to Logan for like two years." He turned off the water. "It's okay." Opening the doors, he stepped out and handed Mac a towel.

Despite his dismissive words Mac knew he was disappointed. She took the towel and wrapped it around herself mechanically, still staring at him but otherwise not moving.

Dick had begun drying his own body and didn't register her continued discomfort. When he noticed she hadn't moved, he got nervous. "What?"

"You love me?" Mac finally managed to squeak out.

Dick grinned and nodded. "Yeah, I do. But it's seriously okay if you don't . . . well if you can't. . .yet."

Sighing, Mac resigned herself to having this conversation here in Dick's bathroom. Logically it was too soon but none of this was logical. It wasn't the most romantic of settings. There were no windswept mountains or orchestras playing. She didn't hear angels weeping but here it was going to be. "It's not . . . well, . . . last night when you said it, . . . I um, well, . . . I convinced myself that it must be something you do. . . something you say to every girl you just . . ." She made an awkward gesture with her hands rather than say 'every girl you just had sex with.'

Dick grew serious. Part of him wasn't surprised that she thought that about him. He had been a player but after the past few months he thought she knew he'd changed. Knotting the towel at his waist Dick faced her but didn't touch her. "I never told another girl that I love her."

That made no sense to Mac. "Um, what about Melinda, your ex-wife?"

_Of course Mac would bring that up_. "I married her for like five seconds and immediately had it cancelled."

"Annulled," Mac supplied.

"Whatever. Just 'cause I married her, doesn't mean I told her that I loved her. And even if I did, I totally didn't mean it. Did you ever see her toes?" He shuddered at the memory.

Chuckling, Mac tightened her grip on the towel and stepped out of the shower stall. "I wasn't trying to insult you."

Dick leaned back to rest his butt against the counter. "Well, you did," he pouted.

Stepping into his personal space, Mac slid her hands sensuously up his pectoral muscles and over his shoulders. It had the desired effect because he reached out and grabbed her hips, resting his hands on her waist. "I'm sorry," She offered

"It's no big deal," Dick said before kissing her lightly on the nose.

Mac shook her head. "It is a big deal. I've never told anybody that I love them either."

"Oh," Dick wasn't sure how he was supposed to respond to that revelation.

Mac continued seriously, "Remember this morning when you asked me if I had any regrets?"

Dick nodded and swallowed the lump growing in his throat. He didn't like where this seemed to be going. He didn't want Mac to regret anything they did together and he really didn't want her to regret last night to the point where she never wanted to do it again. Mentally kicking himself for pushing her – sexually and emotionally – he waited for the death knell.

"I regret not telling you that I . . . that I . . ." The words just wouldn't come out of her mouth. "I . . . ah um . . really care about you too," she volunteered softly. "You know that right?" This was all going way too fast for her but somehow hearing her own voice say those words calmed rather than frightened her. None of this made any sense but maybe that was the point.

Hugging her with all his might and lifting her off the floor Dick spun her around maneuvering them both out of the bathroom while peppering her with kisses before they made love again. While the previous night had been hot, passionate and new and this morning had been sleepy, almost lazy, this was deliberate and loving. Both felt that not only had their bodies came together but their souls had begun to intertwine.

Around noon the new lovers finally managed to get out of bed and separate long enough to get dressed and get into Dick's truck for the short drive to Mac's off campus apartment. Dick insisted on walking her to her door where they spent another fifteen minutes making out in the hall before Mac shoved him away. "I have work to do," she insisted.

"I could just stay and watch you work," Dick suggested.

Kissing him lightly, Mac declined. "Oh yeah. Like that's gonna happen." She rolled her eyes. "Nah, you wouldn't be distracting at all."

Holding up three fingers Dick promised, "Scouts' honor."

"You were never a scout." Mac reminded him. In response he altered his hand gesture from the scout pledge to the shocker. "Just go," she pleaded laughing at his antics. "The sooner you get out of here, the sooner I can get done what I have to do and then I can come back."

"Okay, okay, I'm going already," Dick whined but stole one last kiss before heading back to his truck. "You are coming back, right?"

#*~*~*~*~*~*~

Parker was sitting on the couch when Mac let herself in. "Ohhh, look at you doing the walk of shame, . . . at one in the afternoon," the blonde teased her normally conservative roommate. "Who was he?"

Mac blushed a deep crimson so her face and neck were almost the same color as her blouse. "Nobody," she managed to mumble walking down the hall.

Parker was having none of that. She followed Mac into her room and plopped herself down on the bed while Mac changed out of her clothes from last night. "Whoever he was, he certainly did a number on you. I haven't seen anybody look so . . satisfied . . . since Veronica after she and Logan had been apart for what was it - three whole months - before sophomore year."

"Gimme a break," Mac rolled her eyes. "I do not look like Veronica after her and Logan make up."

"No," Parker confirmed, "You look better!"

Mac continued to undress.

"Nice underwear," Parker teased. Everyone knew girls only pulled out their best unmentionables when somebody else was going to see them.

Mac blushed again. As she was shrugging out of the lacey bra to pull on a sweatshirt Parker squealed. "Ohhhh! He branded you. You have a huge hickie on your boob."

Scowling, Mac moved over to the mirror and pulled up her shirt her to look at herself. "I'll kill him," she muttered.

"So there was a 'him'. C'mon Mac, spill. I haven't seen you this happy since . . . well, ever. Not even when the i-phone came out."

Mac stood next to where Parker was sitting on the bed and studied her carefully. She was dying to talk to somebody but this was all so surreal. "Promise you won't laugh."

"Why would I laugh? It's not like you hooked up with Dick or something," Parker joked but her eyes widened in recognition at the stricken look on Mac's face. "You and Dick?!" Parker couldn't believe what Mac was saying. "Last night. You had sex with Dick Casablancas? Blonde surfer dude, great body, minimal brains, the scourge of your existence, Dick?"

"He has a brain," Mac defended him.

Parker sat up. "You're sticking up for him?"

"Yeah," Mac admitted as she sunk down to sit on the bed next to her roommate. "Can you believe it?"

"It was probably just a manner of time," Parker observed.

"What?" That statement made no sense to Mac. From her perspective Dick asking her out last Wednesday came out of the blue.

"What, what?" Parker repeated. "You and Dick. You were always touching each other and giggling. You trade secrets like little girls. He messages you about 50 times a day and you're always lost in each other. You barely know the rest of us are in the room when you're together. It makes sense that you finally took the next step."

"You think?"

Wrapping an arm around Mac, Parker did what she did best. "I do." Parker was a good friend, a willing shoulder to lean on and the girliest girl Mac could tolerate. "Okay so what happened? Start from the beginning and don't leave anything out. From the look on your face, I'm guessing he was as good as he claims to be?"

"Better," Mac bragged even though she averted her eyes as she confessed. She needed somebody else's perspective and she wasn't about to call Veronica. She talked to Parker about how she and Dick had been growing closer; the New Year's kisses; how Dick asked her out and the stupid gas station rose he brought her last night. Parker only interrupted to say she had wondered where that sorry excuse for a flower had come from. Mac described dinner and the teasing on the couch until they came to an understanding. Although she didn't go into graphic detail, Mac shared that Dick brought her to orgasm four times last night and that they'd had some form of sex three more times this morning. Parker was duly impressed.

"So now what?" Parker inquired when Mac was finished.

"I think I'm falling in love with him," Mac admitted which surprised them both for different reasons. The logical side of Mac's brain knew that this was way too soon but her heart didn't seem to care. Nothing about her and Dick made sense but yet it felt right, perfect in fact. Somehow they fit even though perhaps they shouldn't. She didn't understand how that was possible, but part of her didn't care to continue analyzing the mystery. When she was with him she knew she was safe. He knew all the bad stuff and she'd never have to explain. It happened to him too.

Fearing the worst, Parker asked, "How does he feel?"

"He loves me too," Mac confirmed "He even said it first, twice actually, before I said anything."

"Really?" Parker was encouraged but probed further because she didn't trust guys who throw the L-word around too casually and Dick seemed like he'd be that kind of guy. She didn't want Mac to get hurt. "When are you supposed to see him again?"

"Later. I promised him I'd come back over there after I did a few things around here. I have some reading I have to do for one of my classes on Monday."

Parker chuckled. "Yeah, like you are gonna be able to concentrate. Plus, what about tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?" Mac wondered.

"Valentine's Day? After last night, I'm guessing you're not coming home again tonight either so you are going to wake up in your new boyfriend's arms on Valentine's Day. That's so romantic!" Parker was such a girl.

"I never said he was my boyfriend," Mac protested.

Parker scoffed. "Of course he's your boyfriend. There's only one way Dick Casablancas would allow the same girl to sleep over two nights in a row and wake up with him on Valentine's Day, and that's because he likes her."

Even though Dick had declared himself to be her boyfriend last night Mac wasn't going to concede the point. "It's not like he's never had a girlfriend before." Parker didn't need to know that Dick's last steady girlfriend was in high school or that it had Madison Sinclair, the girl she was switched at birth with. Mac made a mental note to tell Dick about that little secret someday.

Parker wasn't paying attention to Mac's inner musings. "What are you gonna get him? More importantly what are you gonna wear?"

"Get him?" Mac found this conversation harder and harder to follow.

"For Valentine's Day?" Parker replied like she was talking to a child with a short attention span.

"Um, nothing," Mac suggested.

Parker frowned. "You can't get him nothing. What if he gets you something and you don't have anything for him? You'll feel like a jerk."

Appreciating Parker's logic, Mac sighed. "What am I gonna get him?"

"I don't know, missy, but you have some shopping to do. Seriously do you even own lingerie? " Parker bounced off the bed and grabbed her purse. "C'mon. I'll drive."


	7. Return Disclosures

Mac arrived back at the beach house around seven. Throwing her overnight bag and her laptop over her shoulder, she grabbed a brown paper bag off the front seat of her trusty VW Bug. Walking to the door, she hesitated. Normally she just walked in. Logan and Dick were never ones to stand on ceremony or protocol but now things were different. After a moment, she got the courage to open the door. It seemed silly that she walked in unannounced when she was Dick's friend but had to be let in now that they were lovers.

Dick was on the couch playing Beach Volleyball Babes and rockin' out to his i-pod but he noticed her right away. Leaping over the back of the couch he pulled her into a hug and kiss but relieved her of her bags, setting them down on the floor to resume an unencumbered hug. "You came back!" he declared when they finally broke apart for air.

"I said I would," explained Mac looking at him quizzically.

Dick ducked his head in sort of an 'aw shucks' move. "Well I thought . . . I hoped. . . I . . . ah . . . didn't want you to change your mind."

Mac was touched by his insecurity. "I'm not saying I understand this any more than you do but . . . . _this_ is . . . .something . . . and I think we owe it to ourselves to find out what."

Dick didn't want to have a discussion. He just wanted to be, to feel. Changing the subject, he took the paper bag out of Mac's hand. "Whacha got here?" he asked pulling a bottle of merlot from the sleeve and laughing.

"What? You didn't have any last night," Mac explained.

"That was last night." Dick pointed to the kitchen counter where he had put a case of the pinot noir they had drunk at the Magic Garden.

"You didn't have to buy a whole case," Mac admonished.

"I wanted you stay," Dick confessed.

"That's more like move in," Mac joked.

Dick acquiesced, "Okay."

"Okay, what?" Mac asked.

"You can move in if you want," Dick offered.

Shaking her head, Mac walked into the kitchen in search of a corkscrew and wine glass. "Just like that? You want to move in together?"

"Why not?" Dick replied.

Opening the refrigerator, Mac pulled out a beer and helped herself to a bottle of water. She handed the beer to Dick and started to open her wine. "This is all going a bit fast but we're nowhere near ready to move in together or even to talk about something like that. Let's just take this slow, okay?"

"Last night you said we'd been dating for like three years so don't couples start to . . . I don't know . . . get serious at that point?"

Mac chuckled that Dick was throwing her own arguments back at her. "I think we also established that we're not most couples."

"But you agree we're a couple, right?" Dick needed confirmation.

"Sure," Mac agreed.

"Okay then." Dick seemed satisfied.

Filling her glass, Mac held it toward Dick by the stem, "Cheers."

Touching his beer bottle to her glass, Dick concurred, "Here's to us. The best couple ever, Mackie!"

They drank without taking their eyes off each other until Mac announced, "I'm hungry. What are we gonna do for dinner?"

"We could go out, where ever you want," Dick offered.

Mac shook her head. "No, it's the Saturday before Valentine's. Every restaurant is gonna be a zoo and I don't really want to deal with all that."

Dick hadn't thought about that. "We could order out. Or . ." He decided to shock her with his forethought. Walking into the kitchen he pulled a tray out of the freezer. "I picked up a veggie lasagna. We could heat it up."

Mac recognized it as the brand from the local warehouse store. Veronica would often buy one when she knew Mac would be at the beach house. The fact that Dick drove over there was quite touching. "That sounds great."

Cooking dinner with Dick was oddly domestic. He helped her make a salad; thankfully Veronica kept this house stocked with real food because the guys would live on junk and takeout. Finding a jar of tomato sauce in the cupboard, Mac poured it into a saucepan and used it to warm up the pre-made meatballs Dick had also gotten so he didn't have to have another solely vegetarian meal. When they set the dining room table, Dick pulled out candles to complete the effect.

In response to Mac's unspoken question, Dick admitted, "Logan bought a whole bunch of candles one time when he went shopping with Ronnie."

Although the meal wasn't fancy, the joy of eating something that they prepared together made it one of the best dinners either had ever eaten. It didn't compare in taste or elegance to the one they shared the night before at the Magic Garden but the love in their hearts was all the seasoning their taste buds needed.

Finishing the dishes, they flopped on the couch with full bellies. Dick threw an arm around her shoulders and asked, "Whaddya wanna do now?" without a hint of suggestiveness in his voice which was a nice change.

"I dunno. What do you wanna do?" Mac tossed the question back at him.

"There's a Cupid Sucks party at Pi Sig," he offered.

"I actually don't hate the little bastard this year," Mac disclosed. "But I still don't wanna go to your frat party."

Kissing the top of her head, Dick agreed, "Me either."

When Mac stretched to work out a kink in her neck Dick began to rub her shoulders.

"Mmmmmm," Mac sighed as he dug into her tense muscles. Although it had been romantic and sweet, having spent the night curled into Dick's arms with her head on his chest, she'd woken up with a mild neck strain.

"I know what you need," Dick began.

"What you're doing is just great," Mac assured him.

"This'll be even better," he promised rising from the couch and leading Mac toward the sliders to the back deck.

"Let me at least get my jacket if we're going outside," Mac protested.

"Won't need it. We're gonna jump in the hot tub. All those jets . . . best thing ever for a sore back," Dick promised.

Mac stopped walking and pulled her hand out of Dick's larger one. "I don't have a bathing suit."

Dick turned to look at her like she was daft, "So?"

"We can't just go outside in February and jump naked into a hot tub."

"Sure we can. I do it all the time." Realization dawned on Dick. Mac probably wasn't too keen on getting out. It wasn't like he could expect her to prance naked and dripping wet through the house like he did. "You're right. Hang on. I'll grab you a robe and some towels."

"Dick, I'm not getting naked with you outside in public."

Dick wasn't listening to her as he returned from the laundry room with two fluffy towels and a robe. He brought them outside and turned on the jets in the Jacuzzi®.

Mac shivered when the cool air wafted in through the open slider. Dick grabbed the candles off the dining room table and set them up outside. Finally he took her wine bottle and a new beer outside. When he came for Mac and her wine glass, she dug in her heels. "I am not getting naked with you in public!"

"What public? We're gonna be on the deck – the private deck of my private house," Dick countered. He didn't understand what all the fuss was about.

"Where anybody walking by on the beach can see," Mac disputed his contention that the deck was private.

"It's dark out and it's February. Anybody who's out for a walk is gonna be down like at the water line, not up here on my property. It's no big deal. Chill."

Mac didn't look convinced but the allure of warm water and a wet, slippery surfer was an enticing combination.

"Seriously, it's cool." Dick tried to assure her.

Mac continued to stare at him unbelievingly.

Ducking outside Dick returned with the robe. "Put this on in here. I'll hold it up outside and you can climb into the tub without anyone scopin' out your rockin' bod, 'cept me, of course." He winked at her.

Mac looked more convinced but still hadn't agreed so Dick brought out the big guns. Whipping his own shirt over his head, he stood before her bare-chested. Unsnapping his jeans, he tilted his head at her, as he toed off his sneakers. "C'mon, Cindy, for me. You . . . me . . . a starry night . . . all those jets. . . it'll be awesome, babe. You'll see. Who's the Master of Looove?" He bucked his hips in her direction like he had a dozen times before but this time she knew what was underneath those jeans and just what those thrusts could do.

The lust pouring from him directed at her – an idea Mac still wasn't used to – won the argument for Dick as he continued to strip. His naked body and prominent erection were powerful points in his favor. The fact that her inhibitions had been lowered by the wine didn't hurt either. "Okay, but if anybody sees me. . ."

"They'll know you're hot, babe. Don't worry so much. You don't have to be thinkin' like all the time. Turn that big 'ol brain of yours off once in a while."

Once she was wrapped in the oversized robe – stolen from the Grande, of course – Dick started to lead them outside. "Wait. We need tunes." Walking back to the stereo Dick fiddled with a few buttons until the room filled with sultry jazz.

True to his word, he stood there buck naked and held the robe to shield her from any prying eyes that may have been on the deserted beach as she slipped into the luxurious bubbling tub. Dick climbed in behind her and pulled her into his arms to begin a glorious wet make out session. Dick was right. This was a little bit of heaven right here in Neptune, California.

"I gotta ask about the tunes," Mac began. Jazz, even an obvious seduction mix, didn't seem to be Dick's style.

Dick looked sheepish. "It's a mix Logan made for him and Ronnie. Whenever I'd hear it I knew they were gettin' busy and that I needed to get out of there, or at least not come out here."

They tried to have sex but condoms and hot tubs don't mix. The water kept washing away all of Mac's natural lubrications. Instead they brought each other to climax using their hands and mouths. Mac was still enjoying the heady freedom being allowed to touch Dick so intimately whenever and where ever she wanted.

After about 45 minutes of massaging water and an aquatic exploration of each other's bodies, the pair determined that they were starting to prune so it was time to take this party back inside. Dick climbed out of the tub and wrapped a towel around his waist before holding out the robe for Mac to step into. "You're even hotter all wet, babe," he praised, lasciviously stroking his hand across her body as he enveloped her in the robe and his arms. Mac shivered from the cool air, his inviting touch and lusty words.

Wrapped in the robe, Mac helped Dick take all their supplies back into the house.

They put everything away, scooped up their abandoned clothes, turned out the lights and headed upstairs.

After they made love, Dick snuggled Mac against him intending to fall asleep using her as a life sized teddy bear. She pulled away slightly. "I'm not much of a cuddler."

"You can learn," Dick assure her but he released his grip to allow her to get comfortable.

Her second night in Dick's bed afforded Mac a better night's sleep. She was already relaxed in his company and was getting used to the incredible feeling of the luxurious sheets caressing all of her skin. His warmth and solid presence provided her the security she had been missing for several years to allow her to sleep deeply and awake refreshed. Sleeping with her head on an actual pillow rather than Dick's broad chest did wonders for her neck.

For the second morning in a row Mac awoke to Dick's smiling face. "Happy Valentine's Day, Cindy," he whispered climbing on top of her.

"Happy Valentine's Day," she returned as she grabbed a condom out of the nightstand to roll it over him. "Dddd . . . iiiii . . . . ccccc. . . kkkk," she moaned breathily as he pushed into her depths.

Their rhythm came quickly. "I. Love. You," Dick declared punctuating each work with a thrust. "I love you too," she promised. Dick beamed at her and snuggled her tighter, if that was possible.

The newness of their relationship and their shared eagerness didn't drag this out. Within moments, they were falling over the edge into pleasure.

Once he caught his breath, Dick jumped out of bed and opened his dresser drawer. Mac mistakenly assumed that yesterday's post-coital cuddling was an aberration. "You going surfing?" Mac asked trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice.

"Not yet," Dick responded absently, still concentrating on rummaging around, opening and closing drawers until he found what he was looking for.

Mac's eyes flew open in shock when she realized that Dick was standing on the side of the bed, naked as the day he was born, holding a long, thin, blue velvet jewelry box and grinning. At least it wasn't a small square one. Sliding back into bed, he reverently handed her the box. "Happy Valentine's Day, Cindy."

Brushing her hands over the velvet box Mac was partially frozen. Parker warned her that he would probably get her something for Valentine's Day. She assumed it would be a teddy bear or a t-shirt, maybe a new flash drive. It never crossed her mind that he'd get her jewelry. She recognized the box; it was from the best jewelry store in Neptune, not that she owned anything from there.

"Open it," Dick encouraged like a little kid on Christmas.

Coming to her senses, Mac had other ideas. "Not yet. Hand me my overnight bag."

Disappointed Dick rolled to the side of the bed to snatch her bag off the floor as requested.

Mac dug down to the bottom and pulled out a card and gift bag, presenting both to Dick. "You first."

Looking like he wanted to open the bag first, Dick uncharacteristically opted for delayed gratification and opened the card reading it out loud. "I want us to have an intellectually stimulating Valentine's Day." Dick looked at Mac as if to say '_seriously?_' He wasn't exactly the intellectual type. Moving her head, Mac encouraged him to keep reading so he opened the card. "C'mere, so I can blow your mind." She signed it Love, Cindy.

"Any time you want, babe. Any time you want!" Dick was thrilled with his card. Reaching into the bag, he pulled out a wad of material. Unfolding it, he held up the navy blue t-shirt and cracked up when he read it. An open lap top appeared to have stick figures about to have sex on the screen. Underneath it said, 'Ask me about my hard drive'. Dick grinned but decided against trying it on. "You like totally know me." Mac kissed him sweetly, happy that he enjoyed his gift. "Smart and dirty. Sweet!"

Mac blushed at his odd praise.

"So, open yours," Dick encouraged, hoping that she liked her present as much as he liked his.

Taking a deep breath, Mac pulled open the hinged box. Inside she found a bracelet with a single charm, a silver surf board. She would have expected a heart but Dick really wasn't a cliché once you got past the quintessential surfer persona. He was an original. Extracting the bracelet from the box, she held it out to Dick for him to fasten it around her wrist. An unspoken question remained obvious on her face.

"I couldda got a heart but that was so . . . I dunno . . . obvious. When I saw the surfboard I just totally knew. Ya know? I mean I love surfing and I love you so . . . . I didn't think you wanted a real board . . .but I could totally get you one if you want."

Mac grinned. He was right. _This was so much better_. "I don't want a real surf board. This is perfect." She reached out to kiss him. "Now, how to thank you properly. . .?" She tapped a finger thoughtfully on the side of her cheek.

Dick knew she already knew how she was going to thank him, not that he expected it, but he wouldn't say no. "Well, there was something about blowing my mind." Mac smiled from ear to ear as she slid down his body.

#*~*~*~*~*

Later that afternoon Mac was sitting on the far end of the living room couch working on her laptop. Her feet were perched in Dick's lap and he was watching a basketball game on TV as he absentmindedly massaged her tootsies.

Logan and Veronica came stumbling into the house wrapped around each other and laden with bags. Neither thought anything about Mac's presence; she was as much a fixture in the beach house as the plasma TV. "How was the conference?" the computer geek asked her co-hort.

"Amazing!" Veronica shared. "Wait 'til you see all the new gadgets I got."

Dick didn't care about Ronnie's pixie spy stuff. He moved Mac's feet off his legs, grabbed his empty beer can and her mug, "You want some more tea, babe?"

"Yeah, thanks," answered Mac, automatically titling her head up for a quick kiss which Dick dutifully bestowed before heading to the kitchen.

"Finally!" Logan proclaimed as Veronica yelped, "Back the train up! What the heck has been going on around here? Am I in an alternate universe? Mac did you hit your head? Are you on drugs? Please tell me you're on drugs."

Logan and Mac looked at the little blonde. Logan was dumbfounded. Mac was mortified. Neither understood when Veronica had become the clueless one in this house. Mac was nevertheless astounded that this was how she and Dick were announcing their new relationship status to their friends. Somehow in the past two days the ease of their kisses just became one additional comfortable element to their connection. In such a short time it felt so normal, but looking at Veronica's face Mac understood that it might take their friends some time to get used to their new bond.

Dick busied himself getting beverages. "Anybody else want somethin'?" Confrontations with Veronica were to be avoided at all costs. He didn't care if it called his masculinity into question. He was happy to let Mac handle this one.

"Gimme a beer," Logan answered.

"Water," Veronica demanded, "with a hallucinogen chaser."

Mac ignored her, calmly took her tea from Dick and turned to sit properly on the couch unflinchingly meeting Veronica's scrutiny. Dick sat next to her and draped an arm across Mac's shoulders protectively. With Mac by his side, he was confident he could take anything Veronica could dish out. All kidding aside, she'd never actually tasered him and even if she tried, Dick was fairly certain that Logan would stop her.

Fixing her gaze on Logan, Mac queried. "Whadda ya mean 'finally'?"

"I mean _finally_," Logan repeated looking over at the new couple. "You two have been dancing around each other for years. People complain about me and Veronica when we're apart but you two, geesh. And since, New Years. God. I couldn't believe you two didn't hook up at Squaw Valley. Why do you think Veronica and I left you alone so much?"

"'Cause we wanted to be alone on our romantic weekend?" Veronica supplied. She still had no idea that there had been anything brewing beneath the surface, mostly because she just didn't think Dick was that deep.

Shrugging Dick postulated. "I just thought you were getting busy. Hot blonde . . . cold snow. You two can't keep your hands off each other here. Why should there be any different?"

"Because you two have no manners when it comes to your relationship and you can't see past each other most of the time," Mac teased.

"Hey," both Logan and Veronica balked at Mac's assessment.

"I'm still trying to figure out what happened here," Veronica stated waving between Mac and Dick.

"You want me to draw you a diagram, Ronnie? 'Cause you know I've lived with Logan a long time and kind thought you knew what you were doing if all that screaming and moaning was any indication. 'Oh Loooogan! Harder! Faster! Right there! Oh my Gawd!'" he mocked in his best falsetto voice. Veronica blushed. Logan tried not to laugh out loud at Dick's pathetic imitation and had to turn his head to avoid making eye contact with anyone.

On Veronica's behalf, Mac pushed Dick's shoulder playfully.

"Nice bracelet." The shiny object caught Veronica's attention with Mac's movement. "Is it new?"

"Dick gave it to me for Valentine's Day," Mac bragged.

Veronica raised an eyebrow at Logan. "I didn't get jewelry."

"I bought you a $15,000.00 infrared camera!" Logan protested.

"Cool," Mac enthused.

_Why?_ wondered Dick. That gift didn't seem very romantic to him, but he never pretended to understand Veronica.

There really wasn't much to discuss. Mac gave them the abbreviated PG version of the weekend's events: "Dick took me to the Magic Garden on Friday and since then we've been . . . exploring . . . this new aspect of our relationship."

"Lots of exploring, . . . previously . . .ah . . . uncharted territory," Dick confirmed, motioning as if he was going to grab Mac's breast. She shoved his hand away, blushed slightly and giggled before kissing him softly but pulling away before he could deepen the kiss.

"Get a room," Logan admonished at this semi-public display. Veronica simply shook her head in disgust trying to understand why her normally conservative levelheaded friend made such an odd choice.

Despite their antics, Mac and Dick's joint body language made it clear that they weren't going to brook interference even from well-meaning friends.

Veronica wasn't satisfied but consoled herself with one empty threat, "If you hurt her . . . ."

With that resolved, the couples settled into their old routine. Mac worked. Dick watched TV. Veronica put everything away and Logan watched Veronica. The only appreciable change was that Mac and Dick would occasionally kiss. They'd been sitting closer and closer together in the past years and they had always enjoyed a certain physicality. All in all, it didn't seem that strange until you remembered that this was Mac and Dick, the most unlikely couple in Neptune, if you didn't count Logan and Veronica.

The foursome ordered in sushi for dinner and enjoyed an impromptu Valentine's double date. Veronica was fascinated at how tender and loving Dick was being. He refilled Mac's wine glass. He gently fed her bites of her favorite rolls without having to ask which ones she preferred. Logan beamed like a proud papa – his little Dick was growing up and falling in love.

After dinner the two couples snuggled on opposite ends of the wide couch to watch a movie. In honor of the holiday Logan had scored an advance copy of the DVD _Valentine's Day_ which wasn't due out until the Spring. Both he and Dick figured they could watch a chick flick especially because this meant they didn't have to pay attention to the action on the screen but could focus solely on the women in their arms.

By the time the movie was over, Veronica was sound asleep. She and Logan had a late night in Vegas but she drove home while Logan slept in the car. He gently lifted her into his arms and headed for the stairs. "'Night kids," he called to Mac and Dick, "Don't do anything I wouldn't."

"That leaves out what? Farm animals?" Dick ribbed his buddy good naturedly. When Logan and Veronica disappeared out of sight, he turned back to Mac. "I thought they'd never leave."

Mac kissed him more deeply then she had in hours. Being in his arms and not doing much about it, had been torture. She'd gotten used to having the whole house to themselves. Even if it was just Veronica and Logan, PDA wasn't her style.

Dick moved to pin her under him on the couch but Mac pushed him away. "I have one more surprise for you."

"Cool," Dick's whole face brightened. "I totally dig your surprises, Cindy."

Mac smiled both proud and self-conscious. "You straighten up down here and I'll meet you in your room."

"I'll just come with you." Dick didn't care about the mess. The housekeeper would deal with it eventually.

Shaking her head, Mac looked from the popcorn bowls and empty glasses back to Dick. "No, I need a minute." Not sure where she was going with this, Dick tried to follow her anyway. When she explained that she was going to "slip into something more comfortable," he was smart enough to stop arguing. To give her enough time to do whatever it was she was going to do, Dick dutifully cleaned while Mac disappeared upstairs.

A few minutes later Dick stepped into his bedroom to find it illuminated by candles he didn't own. "Cindy?" he called softly into the empty room.

Hearing her name, the brunette emerged from the bathroom in a red lace camisole and matching boy shorts. She was absently twirling a strand of her long, loose hair around her fingers at breast level. She was having trouble meeting Dick's eyes and kept shifting her gaze from the floor to his face.

All of the blood immediately left Dick's brain and went straight to his groin. Swallowing, he ravaged her with his hungry eyes, "Sweet!"

**A/N: Thank you to my faithful readers. The next few chapters will come out more slowly because they are being revised. I do not currently like them; they aren't working for me. **

"Happy Valentine's Day," she purred strutting toward the bed. Dick's obvious appreciation of her outfit had given her more confidence. Spinning around once she asked, "Do you like it?"

"Oh yeah." As she moved, Dick pulled off his clothes. He couldn't get naked fast enough. "But it's gonna look way better on the floor," he predicted in anticipation of getting her out of the lacy barrier.

Dragging her onto the bed, Dick spent the next hour worshipping her body. It was the best Valentine's Day either of them had ever experienced.


	8. Location, Location, Location

Drifting back from her delicious reverie about the beginning of her romance with Dick, Mac looks down at her beloved granddaughter. "Grandpa gave me this surfer for our first Valentine's Day because he wanted me to understand that he loved me as much as he loved surfing." It is hard to keep her voice from breaking, since surfing is what eventually killed him.

Logan ducks into the dining room to see how the women are faring. Squeezing Mac's shoulder he assuages, "At least he died doing something he loved. We should all be so lucky."

Mac gives him a half smile. She knew Logan's words were meant as comfort and she offers a small measure back. "And he was with friends." She pats his hand as it rests on her shoulder.

"Tell me more about the charms, Grandma. What are these funny looking ones?" Courtney asks.

"Those are Greek letters, Pi Sigma Sigma, Grandpa's fraternity."

Veronica reaches across the table to inspect the charm. "Ah yes, when he pinned you."

"Actually before that, when he lavaliered me."

"What's lava-leered, Grandma?"

"Well, when a boy in college likes a girl, if he's in a fraternity, he can give her his letters to show that she's important to him. Then all of his brothers will be nice to her."

"That's all it took?" Veronica scoffs. "Some tin letters and suddenly all the Pi Sigs stopped being . . . . well, Pi Sigs?"

Mac scowls at her dear friend. Of course it wasn't that simple. "A few days after Valentine's Day Grandpa and I were coming out of film class when one of his brothers said something that wasn't so nice to me. The next weekend, Grandpa gave me a necklace with these letters so his brothers would know that I was important to him."

"Why would his brothers be mean to you? That's not very nice." Courtney observes as only an innocent child can. Kindness should be so simple.

"Because men are pigs, sweetheart," Lily pipes up from her magazine. "The sooner you learn that the better."

"Not all men," Mandy defends the other half of the human population.

"All men," confirms Lily.

"You _are_ dating our brother," Savannah reminds her.

Stroking her infant's head Kelly pronounces "My son is not a pig."

Lily laughs a bit too bitterly, "He's also not a man, yet."

"Seriously," Savannah continues, "Why are you with Mitch if you think he's a pig?"

"I didn't say it was a problem," Lily retorts with a gleam in her eye.

Logan still hasn't learned when to keep he mouth shut. "Are you going to sit here and let her call me a pig?"

"Dads are the exception," Mandy explains. "If the shoe fits, dear," Veronica teases.

Mac is barely listening to them. She is drifting back to the Pi Sigma charm.

*~*~*~*~*_FLASHBACK_ ~*~*~*~*

The Monday after Valentine's weekend, Mac and Dick walked out of their film class holding hands. They looked like any other college couple in love when one of Dick's Pi Sig brothers wandered up to them. "Dude," he greeted Dick with a fist bump, completely ignoring Mac. "We got a brothers' meeting tonight."

"Dude," Dick replied. "I'm bar chair. I'll totally be there. Gotta see how much you assholes drank this weekend and re-order."

"Yeah," the brother agreed. "Where were you Saturday? Cupid Sucks and so do desperate chicks. It's like the best panty dropper party of the whole year. All those lonely skanks wishin' they had a Valentine. They'll do anything not to go home alone. You totally missed out."

Mac scowled at the brother's description of the latest Pi Sig party. It disgusted her how many different ways those jerks could come up with to objectify women.

"I had somethin' better to do," Dick explained.

The brother remained oblivious to Mac's presence. "There's no way the DickMeister was too busy to get laid. What gives?"

Mac had enough. "I gotta get to work," she offered by way of exit line. "I'll call you when I get off."

Dick gave her a light kiss on the lips before he let her go. "You'll definitely get off if you call me," he whispered making her blush.

As Mac walked away she heard the brother's incredulous voice, "Hell must have frozen over when Dick Casablancas is pussy whipped."

Mac never turned around to see Dick punch the guy.

#~*~*~*~*~*~*

That Friday when Mac got to the beach house, Dick was uncharacteristically nervous as he carried her overnight bag up to his room. "I, . . . uh . . . I have something for you."

"Okay," Mac was a little freaked out at how twitchy Dick was being. "What?"

"Sit down," Dick directed pointing to the bed before he turned around to reach into the top drawer of his dresser, the same drawer he pulled the bracelet from on Valentine's morning.

_He couldn't have gotten me more jewelry_, Mac thought as she silently watched him. _It's only been a few days. _

Sure enough Dick turned around with a square cardboard jewelry box in his hand but this one was from the campus book store rather than an upscale boutique. Sitting next to her, Dick took one of her hands in his. "Uhm, . . ." he began awkwardly. "You remember the other day when Jugs – Justin – was an asshat outside of film class?"

Mac brushed him off, "Don't worry about that jerk. I already knew all Pi Sigs were pigs."

"C'mon! That's not fair," Dick objected.

Leaning over, Mac gave him a small kiss.

Dick scowled. Exhaling in frustration, he handed her the box. "At the brothers' meeting we talked about all the guys who had gotten lavaliereed or pinned over Valentine's Day and I . . .ah, um. . . I realized that the letters, . . . well, they mean something."

Mac opened the box to stare down at the Greek letters suspended from a cheap tin chain.

Continuing Dick explained, "The brothers, . . . well, they'd um. . . . they'd never disrespect the house or the brotherhood and that means not disrespecting the letters. So I was thinking . . . if . . . um . . .if you wear the letters, then they'll have to respect you. So . . ."

"You actually think that this little necklace will stop jerks like Justin?" Mac inquired disbelievingly.

"I know it will," Dick assured her.

Mac wasn't sure how to proceed. She really didn't want to wear Pi Sig letters anywhere on her body. They were the most disgusting house on campus and the way they treated women was disgraceful. Yet, she didn't want to hurt Dick and she could tell this was important to him. She frowned.

"I know what you're thinking, Cindy," Dick observed. "We're not that bad, but I can't be like getting in fights 'n shit with my brothers. This makes sure they know you're mine. It tells them they have to treat you right. It's the code."

"Yours?" Mac didn't want to be possessed by any man.

Dick didn't want to debate social convention or gender rolls. "My girlfriend."

Mac reminded him of his other code. "What about 'bros before hos'?"

"Doesn't apply. You're not a ho."

Sighing in resignation, Mac took the necklace out of the box. She tried to think about the good that fraternities do. They had been using the real date rape drug detector coasters since freshman year. They donated toys to needy kids at Christmas. Holding the necklace out to Dick, she pulled her hair up off her neck and faced away from him. "If you say so."

"I say so," Dick affirmed draping the lavaliere around her and clasping the chain behind her neck. He was pleased to see that she was wearing the charm bracelet he gave her the week before.

Remembering her manners, Mac turned toward her new boyfriend. "Thank you," She said as she kissed him deeply.

#~*~*~*~*~*

A few months later Mac found herself walking into the Pi Sig house on Dick's arm for their Spring Formal. She hadn't wanted to go but Dick begged. It was his senior year and the last big formal with his brothers but because it was formal, it wouldn't be the same without her. Knowing it was a couples' event, Mac eventually relented. As the bar chairman he had to attend but it would look bad if he came without a date.

She purchased a knee length purple cocktail dress for the occasion which clung to her every curve. Although it had a mandarin style collar and cap sleeves, a large heart shape was cutout over her chest highlighting her cleavage in a block of color.

As dessert was being served by the waiters hired for the evening, Dick commanded quiet from his brothers saying he had an announcement to make. Once he had everyone's attention, he took off the brothers' pin which had been affixed to the lapel of his suit jacket and dropped to one knee in front of Mac.

His gesture caused her to catch her breath. She wasn't completely sure what he was doing but she prayed it wasn't what it looked like.

Swallowing then coughing slightly, Dick took her hands in his and gazed into her terrified eyes. "Right here. Right now," he began, "I wanted everybody to know . . . all my brothers to know how much I . . ." Looking into her eyes, he knew he better not say that he loved her so he amended his declaration, "How much you mean to me, Cindy."

Off in the background somebody whispered in the beginnings of a drunken slur, "Who's Cindy? I thought her name was Mac?"

"Shut up," a female voice scolded by way of response.

Dick continued, "Seriously. You are totally like the coolest chick ever and you're mine so . . ." Letting go of her hands, he moved to position the pin on her dress. "So, will you please wear my pin?" His voice was steady and clear. Even though the party was half way over, Dick had remained relatively sober. He'd only had about three beers over the course of the meal.

Most of the girls in the room were staring longingly at the couple, hoping that one day their boyfriends would make similar declarations.

"Sure," was all Mac could manage in response. She was still reeling from the shock of Dick's dramatic actions and secretly thrilled that he hadn't proposed, which is what she'd been terrified he'd been about to do when he dropped to one knee. Although it was way too soon for them to be thinking so seriously, Mac had no intentions of getting engaged at a fraternity party.

Once Dick had affixed the pin to her dress, Mac got another surprise. All of the Pi Sig brothers gathered around and started serenading her by singing Elvis Presley's _I Can't Help Falling in Love with You. _By the end of the song several of the other girls at the party were softly crying because they thought it was so beautiful and romantic. Mac was biting the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing at the off key production. It was just too cheesy for her but it seemed to make Dick happy so who was she to argue with the antiquated tradition? She'd be glad when this night was over and hoped it was the last time she'd ever have to set foot in a fraternity house for the rest of her life.

At the time she had no idea that 20 years later she'd be back every Mother's Day because her sons were legacies.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*_END FLASHBACK_~*~*~*~*~*

"I like the pineapple charm, Grandma," Courtney announces, finding it among the other dangles on Mac's wrist.

"Grandpa gave it to me the first time we went to Hawaii," Mac recalls fondly.

Lily looks up from her magazine and meets Mac's eye with a devilish twinkle in her own. "And why a pineapple?"

Leveling the younger woman with an unabashed gaze, Mac replies, "For exactly the reasons you think."

Everyone of age around the table knew the magic of pineapple. It was always in the house.

Courtney asks, "What reasons?"

Since she started this not-for-little-ones-ear's conversation, Lily has the good grace to end it. "Because pineapples have a lot of vitamin C and all good little girls – and boys- " she adds winking at Mac, "need lots of pineapple."

Fortunately, that answer satisfies the inquisitive child.

*~*~*~*~*~*_FLASHBACK_~*~*~*~*~*

One morning in early March the two couples were lazing around the living room of the boys' beach house. It was a cool, overcast winter's day for Southern California and nobody was particularly motivated for doing much.

"So dudes and dudettes what are we doing for Spring Break?" Dick asked shuffling into the living room eating an apple.

"Working," Veronica replied without looking up from the case file she had spread all over the coffee table.

"Studying, I guess," Mac offered.

Logan declared, "It's our Senior Year. The last hurrah. This has go to be the best Spring Break ever. . . like Epic! We have to go all out."

"Logan, some of us have to work for a living," Veronica reminded the boys on behalf of her and Mac.

Draping an arm around Mac and Veronica, Dick settled in between the two women, "And some of you date multi-millionaires."

Mac scrunched up her face at him. She'd seen Logan's money become a source of friction between him and Veronica over the years. She and Dick had never really confronted the issue but she agreed with Veronica on this one. She didn't want Dick to think that she was with him for his bank account. "You can't take us on Spring Break, Dick."

"Why not?"

Before he could answer Logan piped up, "Sure we can. What's the fun of having all this money if we can't spend it on the women we love?"

Dick came up with a brilliant idea. "We should go to Hawaii. Surfers' paradise. The North Shore. The Bonzai Pipeline. It'll be awesome!"

"Dude!" enthused Logan as they bumped fists.

"We're not going to Hawaii," Veronica nixed his idea. Mac nodded.

Dick ignored them. "It'd be awesome, dude. The four of us in Hawaii. I always wanted to zoom the pipeline."

"You two should go." Mac kissed him in confirmation. "Have a great time."

"No way. You totally have to come with," Dick pleaded.

"It won't be as much fun without you," Logan admitted, looking longingly at Veronica.

"Mac and I don't surf," Veronica reminded the overeager boys. .

"So? There's like smart shit and stuff to do too," Dick promised. "There's that place where the boats sank from the Japs . . ."

"Pearl Harbor," Mac supplied.

"Yeah, there. And those volcanoes. I hear you can go right up to one. And all the fruit. You like fruit, Mackie," Dick entreated.

Veronica could see Mac's resolve weakening. Truth be told, she'd love to go to Hawaii. Quirking an eyebrow at her friend, Veronica admitted, "I could tell dad I need some time off and you can always study there." Once she started her F.B.I. training, Veronica realized it would be a long time before she'd get another vacation.

They all knew that very little studying would get done on Spring Break but Mac felt a little better knowing that she was starting out with good intentions. "What am I supposed to tell my parents?"

Dick shrugged. He and Logan didn't really understand what it meant to have parents to deal with for supervision or permission. "Just tell 'em you're going with Veronica." Although Dick had met the MacKenzie's at Cassidy's funeral he had no idea whether Mac told them she was now dating him and he really didn't want to start any conversations which left her parents wondering whether he was defiling their precious daughter.

#*~*~*~*~*~*

A few weeks later, their plane touched down in Honolulu. Both Dick and Logan had been to the big island on stress-filled family vacations but they got a kick out of watching their ladies enjoy the traditional greeting they had arranged with real flower leis, instead of the plastic ones usually give to tourists. Of course Dick made the obvious joke, "There's nothing like getting laid in Hawaii!"

Mac swatted his arm. "Any more cracks like that and you won't be."

"Don't be like that, Cindy," Dick whispered nuzzling her neck and eyeing her like an adoring puppy.

Logan rolled his eyes as Veronica took charge. "Chop. Chop. We have luggage to collect and a vacation to get to."

After grabbing their bags, the couples piled into a waiting taxi. Logan sat in front allowing Dick to cuddle with Mac. "The Royal Palm, please." Veronica was too busy taking photos out the taxi window to pay attention to what her seatmates were doing.

Arriving at the hotel, Logan checked them in. "Suite for Echolls." The others took in the pink expanse of one of the island's grand dame hotels. The open air courtyard, luxurious fabrics and majestic palms invoked feelings of a by-gone era. Mac was impressed. She'd never stayed in a place this fancy. Dick and Veronica understood why Logan had selected this hotel as opposed to a more modern facility. For the same reason that when given a choice, he'd watch a black and white movie – Logan had an old, romantic soul. Dick didn't care where they stayed as long as it had a big bed and proximity to some tasty waves.

"We're all staying in one room?" Mac asked trying not to sound too disappointed when she heard Logan speak to the desk clerk. The last thing she wanted on this vacation was the standard hotel room with two beds. She had a sexy surprise for Dick and couldn't wait to give it to him, or more specifically for him to give it to her. He really had her motor running. He'd been kissing and snuggling her throughout the flight and had even managed to cop a feel through her cargo pants under the strategically placed blanket on the plane.

Dick wasn't fooled by her efforts to be calm. "It's a two bedroom suite, babe. Don't worry." She felt herself relax in his arms. Mac was still getting used to how the other half lived.

"Right this way folks." The bellman's arrival drew everyone's attention as Logan handed out four electronic room keys.

The elevator ride was crowded with five adults and one over-stuffed luggage cart that included four surfboards in travel cases. Mac was pressed right up to Dick who leaned back against the wall. Feeling slightly naughty, she decided to repay him for teasing her during the flight so she pressed her shapely derriere back into his groin wiggling slightly and feeling him start to awaken in response to her actions.

"No fair," he growled into her hair, trying to push himself back through the wall of the elevator or at least stand up straight to put some distance between her ass and his growing erection.

The bellman acted oblivious but Logan took pity on his BFF. "Play nice, children, and try to keep it PG, at least in public," he admonished with a wink. Knowing that Logan knew what she was doing to Dick was all the incentive Mac needed to stop. She stood up straighter in Dick's arms effectively putting a few centimeters between their lower bodies.

The girls walked into the majestic suite and we in awe of its grandeur. Neither said anything but both were aware that this hotel room was bigger than Veronica's apartment.

"Who's up for the beach?" Logan asked.

"Me!" Veronica agreed. "Let's all go get our swim suits on and meet back here in a few minutes."

"Who wants which room?" Logan handed Dick Mac's carry on. The blonde nodded toward the closest bedroom. "We'll take this one."

The bellman busied himself sorting the bags.

"Great!" chirped Veronica as she grabbed her own suitcase and headed across the suite. "See you guys in a few."

"Um," Dick faked a yawn and lied looking directly at Mac. "I'm kinda tired from the trip. We might be a while." Without taking his eyes off his girlfriend, he handed the bellman a $20 and began shutting the door.

"Tired," Logan snorted. "Sure you are."

Veronica turned around and shrugged. She was too excited to be tired.

Looking at her watch, Mac played diplomat. "I have some work to do." Logan snorted again. "Why don't we meet you here around six and we'll figure out what to do for dinner."

Dick had already stepped into the bedroom and was giving Mac a sultry come hither look.

"Sounds good," Veronica called across the room, oblivious to her friends' intentions. Logan trailed after her chuckling and wondering if he could interest Veronica in doing some 'work' before dinner.

#*~*~*~*~*~*~

As Mac shut the door to the bedroom Dick was fishing around in the outer pocket of his suitcase looking for the new box of condoms he'd packed for the trip. Finding them, he dropped a strip on the bed and moved toward Mac.

"Don't need 'em," Mac told him.

Shaking his head, Dick contradicted her. "Oh yes we will. We are so getting' it on right now, babe. What you did to me in the elevator was very naughty and naughty girls need to be punished." Although he had managed to calm down enough to walk out of the elevator without embarrassment, Dick's hard on was back and at almost full force.

"Me?" Mac feigned innocence. "What about what you did on the plane?"

"You loved it!" Dick retorted. "Besides, I asked you if you wanted to go into the bathroom. You're the one who turned me down."

As they bantered, the couple had moved together into each other's arms at the foot of the closest bed and were actively removing one another's clothes between kisses.

Mac pulled away long enough to reiterate. "All I said was we weren't joining the mile high club." Dick had been a member for a long time but he was smart enough not to point that out to Mac.

"We will one of these days, Cindy," he promised, palming a breast he had freed from the confines of her bra as he pulled them both onto the bed.

When Dick reached up to grab the condoms, Mac placed her hand on his forearm to stop him. "We don't need those."

Dick looked at her questioningly. Protection was a necessary part of sex. Even though he was positive they couldn't give each other a disease because they were monogamous and he was religious about suiting up and getting tested - they had also gotten tested together shortly after consummating their relationship - he wasn't ready to be a father and sex without protection led to unwanted pregnancies.

"You remember when we got tested?"

"Yeah, it's all good right?" Dick asked warily. For a few moments he was worried that Mac was going to tell him something he really didn't want to hear.

"All good," Mac confirmed, kissing him lightly for reassurance. "But I also got something else while we were at the doctor's."

"What?" Dick was confused. All this talk was deflating his erection. He didn't want to converse. He just wanted to bury himself inside Mac. He wanted to get laid in Hawaii already.

"I went on the pill," Mac informed him. "I finished one full cycle and now we're good to go."

With any other girl, Dick would never have trusted such a statement. From a young age all '09er boys were taught that girls would do anything or say anything to trap a rich baby daddy. Yet Mac wasn't that kind of girl. Dick had never had sex without a condom. Then again, Dick had never been in a healthy, committed relationship with a woman who loved him for him.

"I don't want there to be any barriers between us, Dick," Mac explained. "Just you and me."

Dick felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest. "No barriers," he repeated solemnly, gazing deeply into her eyes. The only reason he wasn't lost altogether was pure lust. He wasn't sure his cock had ever been so engorged. Instinctively he dipped two fingers into Mac's heated center. It was then that he realized something else had changed. He wasn't surprised to find her wet and ready for him. That had been one of the most amazing things about their relationship – Mac was the most responsive woman he'd ever been with. After making love to her, over and over, he was convinced that all the others must have been faking it. "You shaved," he observed eyeing her hairless body with open admiration.

"Waxed," she corrected him.

He quirked an eyebrow at her.

"What?" she started. "I had to do something if I was going to be able to wear that tiny bikini you insisted on buying me."

Although he was looking forward to seeing Mac in hew new swimsuit, Dick was more interested in her birthday suit at this moment. He slid easily into her. Bareback, her slick heat surrounding him was probably the best thing Dick Casablancas had ever experienced. "Oh God, Cindy!" was the only slightly coherent thing he managed to gasp as they found their rhythm.

Although it would have been nice if they'd managed to go slow for their first unrestricted joining, the all day build up took its toll. Dick's teasing had wound Mac up too so it didn't take much for her to start exploding around him. Between what felt like molten lava in her core and the unadulterated love she saw burning through Dick's eyes, her own passion was revved up to an all time high.

As Dick felt that unmistakable tightening in his balls, he pulled back to play 'porn star' as his shot all over Mac's stomach. Pill or no pill, not getting a girl pregnant was deeply ingrained in his psyche.

When Mac crinkled her pert nose as the warm, sticky fluid squirted all over her belly, Dick mashed their stomachs together so he was covered in goo too. It had the desired effect. Mac went from being annoyed to giggling. Reaching a long arm off the side of the bed, Dick grabbed his discarded t-shirt from the floor and used it to clean them both up.

"I really do love you, you know," Mac vowed as he cradled her in post coital bliss. Sometimes that fact still amazed her. Although they had only been a couple for about two months, sometimes that felt like a lifetime because they were so connected.

Kissing her forehead tenderly Dick whispered, "Right back atcha, babe. Right back atcha."

Turning slightly in his arms, Mac noticed for the first time that they'd just had sex in front of a gigantic picture window framing the bluest water she'd ever seen. She was aghast to realize that the curtains were opened and she tried to jerk the sides of the comforter over their naked bodies.

"Don't worry. We're on the top floor. Nobody can see in," Dick assured her.

Mac relaxed. She still wasn't as comfortable with nudity as Dick, but she was learning to trust him about stuff like this. "The view is breathtaking!"

Stroking her side gently, Dick agreed. "Yes, it is."

"I meant the ocean," Mac chirped.

Rising his head slightly off the pillow to look over her, Dick conceded her point, "That's nice too."

"Do you think Veronica and Logan's room is as nice as this one?" Mac wondered aloud.

Dick shrugged. "It's probably nicer. It's the master bedroom. I picked this one 'cause it was closer."

#*~*~*~*~*~*

A few minutes before six Mac and Dick emerged from their love nest freshly showered and changed for dinner. Both were decidedly more relaxed. They were standing at the railing on the balcony in the living room looking at the ocean and delighting in the salt air when Veronica and Logan walked out of their room.

"You two certainly look like you got a lot of 'work' done," Logan teased.

"Shut up," Dick demanded none too forcefully.

Veronica grabbed Mac excitedly. "Wait 'til you see this place. It's like paradise. There's two pools, a water slide, a spa. Logan reserved us a cabana so we won't burn. There's a tour of the property everyday at two. We definitely have to check it out."

"Sounds like a plan," Mac agreed. Truth be told, she'd still be happy if her and Dick never left the privacy of their bedroom.

The two couples had a leisurely dinner at one of the hotel's restaurants. Nobody wanted to venture too far on their first night. Both couples were far more interested in their partners than the scenery and attractions, plus the boys wanted to get up early to catch a few waves. That was, after all, the point of this destination.

#*~*~*~*~*~*

True to their word, Logan and Dick were out of the suite by seven a.m. and on their surfboards in the designated area adjacent to the hotel by seven fifteen. The girls barely opened their eyes to kiss them good-bye.

The guys returned around ten and ordered breakfast from room service.

"I can't believe all this fresh fruit," Mac gushed heaping the tropical offerings onto her plate.

Logan placed two huge chunks of pineapple on each girl's plate. "Eat up ladies! You know what they say!" he joked biting roughly into his own slice.

"That breakfast is the most important meal of the day?" Mac queried, trying to figure out what Logan was smirking about. She had a bad feeling she missed something.

Three pairs of eyes looked at her incredulously.

Turning to Dick Logan demanded, "You explain it to her, man."

"Pineapple," Dick began as if that explained everything.

"What about pineapple?" Mac continued to wonder what was going on.

Veronica took pity on her naïve friend. "When you eat pineapple . . . . it's . . . . well, it's supposed to make . . . _you_ . . . um . . . taste better . . . sweeter."

Mac tilted her head, still puzzled.

"Who's up for a taste test?" Dick kidded putting his arm playfully around Veronica because she was closer to him.

"Ew," Veronica flinched, pushing him away but without malice in her eyes.

Realizing she had seen a dark shadow fleetingly cross Logan's face, Mac finally realized what they were talking about. Walking over to Dick, she popped a bite sized piece of pineapple into his mouth. "When do we start?"

Putting down her plate, Veronica threw up her hands in mock disgust and walked away from the table. "It was bad enough when you were just dating my friend, but now you are corrupting her too?" Veronica sputtered unconvincingly. "When are you going to learn to just inherently fear me, Casablancas?"

Dick was taken aback by her threat and looked from Logan to Mac for help. He hadn't realized Veronica was kidding until she burst out laughing at his discomfort.

"Don't worry, honey. I'll keep the wittle tiny blonde away from eau," Mac promised her six foot hunk in her best baby talk.

"On that note," Logan changed the subject, "what does everybody want to do today?"

"I vote for the beach!" Dick answered.

"Veronica wanted to take that tour at two," Mac reminded them.

"So the beach it is," Logan confirmed. "We can get snorkeling gear downstairs too, so there's that."

"Don't forget the waterslide," Veronica added.

They finished the rest of their breakfast in companionable conversation, talking about all the things they hoped to see and do during this break.

About an hour later, they were downstairs settling in to their cabana. Both girls opted for SPF 90 and the shade, while the boys set up loungers in the sun. Veronica took her t-shirt off to reveal her bikini top but kept her shorts on. Mac remained covered under a long sleeve mid-thigh caftan. With her fair skin, she couldn't afford not to be too careful.

Dick couldn't sit still for too long unless he was hung over which he wasn't. After a half an hour he started to get restless. Standing up, he reached out a hand to Mac, "Wanna go in the water with me?"

She was torn. As it got closer to mid-day, the last place Mac wanted to be was in direct sunlight. She grimaced and looked guiltily up at Dick before turning him down. "Maybe later, when the sun's not so strong."

"I'll go with you," Logan offered knowing that Veronica would prefer to stay covered too.

When the boys came back from their swim they shook their wet heads over top of the girls spraying them with cool water and laughing as they squealed in delight.

Before the ladies could plot their revenge, a waiter appeared carrying the burgers and fries they had ordered for lunch.

Knowing she was a vegetarian Logan asked Mac, "What are you having?" as he took a huge bite out of his burger.

Smiling innocently at him Mac sweetly explained, "Grilled pineapple."

Everybody roared with laughter when Logan choked on his burger. Dick hi-fived his girlfriend then clapped a still sputtering Logan on the back.

Shortly after finishing lunch, the girls left to go on the tour of the property.

They returned later to find their wet beaus happily drinking pina colodas and playing checkers.

"You know, there's a swim up bar right over there and part of it is shaded," Dick offered by way of explanation for both why he and Logan were all wet and where they had gotten the alcohol.

"Oooh, that sounds good," Mac enthused.

"I could go for a pina colada," Veronica agreed, even though she wasn't a big drinker. She started shedding her clothes in preparation for jumping in the nearby pool.

Hearing Dick slurp the last drops of his drink, Mac pulled her cover-up over her head to reveal a tiny, black string bikini that left very little to the imagination. Dick had bought it for her to wear on this trip and he was very happy with how sexy she looked in it. Although everything was covered, her breasts were free to bounce to his delight and they looked like they could tumble out at any second. After their escapades the day before, the knowledge that Mac had waxed to be able to wear it was drawing the blood in Dick's body steadily south.

Mac was already looking at where Veronica was headed. She wasn't paying any attention to the guys and therefore missed their exchange.

Despite the length of their friendship and the time she spent at the beach house, Logan had never seen Mac in so little. On previous occasions he'd only seen her wear modest one piece bath suits which minimized her femininity. This was the first time he realized what a fantastic body she had. He loved Veronica but sometimes he really missed Lily's generous breasts. Mac's weren't that big, but . . . damn.

Dick heard rather than saw Logan swallow thickly. Tearing his eyes away from his girlfriend Dick grinned at Logan's obvious appreciation of the woman who had just revealed herself to him. He also found his friend's simultaneous discomfort amusing. There was a code after all; you don't go after another man's woman.

Making eye contact with Dick Logan mouthed "Dude!" and offered a fist bump which Dick returned with a warning in his eyes: 'Look but don't touch.' If Logan violated that rule, neither man was sure who would kill him first: Dick or Veronica, or possibly Mac herself.

The rest of the vacation passed by as expected. The boys got to surf the North Shore. The girls enjoyed the visit to Pearl Harbor. Although he was appropriately somber during the tours, the museum and memorials were too much like school for Dick. They were all blown away by the raw power of Volcanoes National Park and the lava trickling into the ocean from Kilauea. The spectacular views from their helicopter tour of the islands were memories they would each treasure forever.


	9. Change of Address

**A/N:** Sorry for the delay in posting. I am still struggling with what comes next. Between RL & the fact that I also managed to fall into a new fandom (you know how that goes . . . .) I haven't been able to work on this as much as I would have liked. Concrit keeps me motivated though.

# ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Trying desperately to change the subject away from sex, Brianna looks at her mother's bracelet, "The hugs and kisses charm has always been my favorite."

Kelly agrees. "It was so cool that you and dad still signed everything to each other with X's and O's."

Logan bursts out laughing.

Six pairs of feminine eyes give him death glares as Mandy chastises her father, "When did you get so un-romantic, Dad?"

Lily has her head back in her magazine.

Mac covers her mouth and turns away giggling and blushing.

Looking from Logan to Mac and back again, Veronica finally remembers the real story behind that particular charm. "You never told them?"

No, Mac shakes her head with some guilt.

Realizing she was about to, Logan reaches out to Courtney. "C'mon little one. Uncle Logan is taking everyone out for ice cream." Mac smiles at him gratefully. Logan wonders if he should make Mandy come too. He's not entirely sure if he wants his daughter to hear this story, even if she is married with kids of her own.

As soon as Logan and Courtney are out of earshot, Kelly asks. "What's the matter with hugs and kisses?"

By now Veronica is giggling too. "Dick didn't know that meant hugs and kisses."

"What did he think it meant?" Savannah demands looking expectantly at her mother.

Mac continues to blush furiously. She's still covering her mouth and staring at the table. "I can't," she wordlessly begs Veronica to tell the story.

"Well," Veronica begins, glancing around the table to make sure she had her audience's full attention, "The way I heard it . . . Logan and Dick had gone shopping to get us graduation gifts. Dick bought this charm for Mac and gave it to her graduation night. She thought what you thought – hugs and kisses – how sweet, but Dick thought it meant something else entirely."

Mac interjects, "X-rated orgasms."

Now even Lily is paying attention because this story is getting good.

"In fact, I thanked him for the hugs and kisses but he looked at me like I was nuts. He was so dejected when I told him that's what the symbols stood for. Then he pronounced that interpretation 'lame' and explained he thought they meant X-rated orgasms: the first two were for the ones we'd already given each other and the other two were for all the ones yet to come." Mac finishes her tale and breaks into a fresh round of tears realizing that there weren't any more Dick induced orgasms in her future. Veronica comes around the table to hug her sobbing friend.

Brianna is aghast. No one wants to think about their parents doing it. "So every time you two would sign something with X's and O's you were really talking dirty, right in front of all of us?" Her sisters all make supportive noises of protest, along the lines of "ew".

"I think it's actually kinda hot," Lily supplies.

Still sniffling, Mac nods in admission as she tries to pull herself together and regain her composure.

Now it's Savannah's turn to change the subject. "I'm almost afraid to ask about the other charms."

Mac chuckles, "That's the only dirty one." She flicks her wrist to show off some of the other dangles. "The wedding bell was when we got married. Baby booties with birth stones for all of you. The palm tree is for our 25th Anniversary trip to Hawaii."

"He should have gotten you another pineapple," Lily suggests. "Unless you stopped."

Brianna holds up a real pineapple in the fruit bowl on the sideboard. "They didn't stop," Kelly assures Lilly pointing to the fruit. Every Casablancas child had caught their parents in a compromising position at least once, and that was just within the last year.

Mac smiles but continues, "The dollar sign is for the first million dollars we made from the business. The holiday ones are obvious – Christmas tree, Easter egg, shooting star for the Fourth of July."

Lily can't take it anymore. "I think it's time to break out the wine."

"I'll get the glasses," Savannah volunteers.

Lilly continues, "But you gotta tell me how the nice, respectable friends of my stodgy father ended up owning a porn empire."

"It's not a 'porn empire'," Mac protests while the Mandy parrots the corporate line oft touted by her husband, Rick, the company president, "It's a marital aid business."

Scoffing, Lilly retorts, "You sell adult toys, videos and kinky lingerie."

"Sexy Surfer is also the leading distributor of women's surfing gear," Kelly reminds her brother's girlfriend.

"That's only because Dick could never give up the waves," Veronica offers without realizing what she said.

She falls immediately silent at Mac's stricken face. Trooper that she is, Mac attempts to lighten the mood, "It's actually Logan's fault."

Now Veronica is intrigued. "I can usually find ways to blame Logan for all kinds of stuff . . . global warming, . . . Suri Cruise's existence . . . but how can it be Logan's fault that you own a 'porn empire'?"

"Remember when you came home for Christmas that one year at stayed at the beach house with us?" Mac asked.

"Yeah, we hadn't been home in what seemed like ages," Veronica joined in the reminiscing.

Mac corrected her. "A year and a half, but who's counting?"

"You're point, Mac?" Veronica urged her friend to explain her earlier statement.

Mac fixed her eyes on her friend. "It seems that you two got into our 'special' closet," she accused without a trace of venom but with a hint of mischief.

Now it was Veronica's turn to blush as Mandy gaped at her mother.

_*~*~*~*~*~*~FLASHBACK *~*~*~*~*~*_

Shortly before graduation Dick discovered that his favorite surf shop was going to close because the owner wanted to retire. Not having a job lined up for after college, Dick decided to buy the place. After all, he reasoned, he loved surfing and selling was in his DNA, along with some other darker things he didn't want to consider. How hard could it be? Open a few hours, sell a few boards and wet suits. Catch a few waves. Sounded perfect.

The business manager who controlled his trust fund and his absentee mother both thought that this plan could actually work. Dick was about to get a degree in business and the investment would be minimal. The inventory on hand, the company's goodwill and the remaining time on the lease weren't overly valuable assets but they should afford him a comfortable living, even if not the lifestyle he had grown accustomed to.

He bought the business and the little store rolled along just as it had always been until the day Mac agreed to let Dick teach her how to surf. Knowing she needed gear, the pair headed over to the shop where they quickly realized that there wasn't much in the way of women's surfing equipment readily available. Men's gear in smaller sizes simply didn't offer the right fit, especially when the surfer in question was both as petite and curvy as Mac. The surf lessons never happened because the couple spent the next several weeks expanding the women's section of the store. They virtually searched the globe for manufacturers who catered to women and they started to design what they couldn't obtain from other vendors. It took a while to secure the proper patents and reputable manufactures but once the pieces were in place, Dick's little surf shop quickly became the industry leader, especially after Mac designed the on-line e-tail portion of the business.

#~*~*~*~*~*

At the end of the summer after graduation Logan and Veronica were taking off to Virginia where Veronica was beginning her F.B.I. training. Logan had gotten accepted into graduate school back east so they could be together but he wouldn't be bored all day while Veronica was at work. When Parker moved home after graduation, even though she was working at a small software company Mac struggled to afford the rent on the apartment without a roommate.

It was mid August and Mac was getting ready for work. Since he didn't have to be at the surf shop until 9:30 and it was only a ten minute drive, Dick stayed in bed most mornings while Mac got ready. He liked watching her and in time she was able to overcome her innate shyness about having her body on display to Dick's lustful eyes. They learned early on that if Dick jumped into the shower with her in the morning, Mac would be late for work. They hadn't mastered the art of the quickie with each other yet because they always gave into temptation and went for round two.

"Wanna come with me to check out apartments after work?" she asked Dick as she stepped out of his en suite bathroom.

"What for?" the sleepy blond replied.

"So that I have some place to live. My lease ends in two weeks and I can't afford that two bedroom all by myself," Mac explained as she finished getting dressed.

"So move in here," Dick said like he was asking her to pass the salad dressing at dinner.

"Just like that? Move in together?" Mac queried.

Dick looked at his girlfriend like she was crazy. "What? You're here all the time anyway. Logan's leaving. What's the big deal?"

"Moving in together is a huge step," Mac countered.

"How much 'huge-r' can it get? We're together all the time. I don't want to be with anybody else. You don't want to be with anybody else. You don't want to be with anybody else, do you?" Dick couldn't keep a little bit of panic out of his voice.

Smiling softly at the naked man sitting on the edge of his bed, Mac walked over to him and kissed him softly. "No I don't want to be with anybody else, silly. You're a stud," she teased, pinching one of his nipples slightly to lighten the increasingly somber mood.

"Then I don't see the problem," Dick retorted. "Seriously, when was the last time you slept in your apartment anyway?"

Without hesitation Mac replied, "At the beginning of the month."

Cocking his head to the side, Dick took a moment to process her response. Sighing with disgust he clarified, "That was when Logan and I were in Tijuana." She nodded. "When was the last time you slept in your apartment while I was in the country?" He thought he had her with that one.

"During finals," she answered.

"Only because you said you couldn't study here," Dick conceded.

"You naked, massaging my shoulders and blowing in my ear wasn't really helping me understand the finer points of Advanced Programming."

By now Dick had gotten up from bed and walked up behind Mac as she was putting her earrings on in front of the dresser mirror. Sweeping the hair from the back of her neck, he started to nibble on that special spot behind her ear. "Sure it does. When I kiss you here, your body is programmed to get all hot and wet for me." He ghosted his hand across her breasts and started to slide it down her stomach before she grabbed it and stopped his teasing.

"I have to go to work." Mac knew if they started, they wouldn't stop. Then she'd need another shower and she'd really be late for work.

"I'll stop if you agree to move in here, Cindy," He was dead serious.

"Well if you're gonna stop, I'm definitely not moving in," she quipped.

Dick laughed at her little taunt. "Like I could ever get enough."

As much as she wanted to move in, she knew it wasn't realistic. "Dick, even though I make good money, I can't afford to cover Logan's share of the rent. It just won't work."

Dick was momentarily confused. "Logan doesn't pay rent. I own this place, remember? Bea- . . . Cassidy . . . . the Phoenix Land Trust you two did."

[**A/N**: If you want a more detailed explanation about how Dick came to own this beach house read chapter 15 of my story, _Queen of the Castle_,  s/8368760/15/Queen-of-the-Castle which this piece treats as canon.]

"All I did was the website and the graphics. I forgot you own this place." Mac conceded. For whatever reason even though she knew Dick had as much money or more than Logan, that fact didn't always resonate. Other than his sports car and his cavalier attitude toward work, Dick's tastes were simple and he didn't throw their class differences in her face any more. He even let her pick up checks once in a while because he knew she hated feeling like a 'kept woman'. Granted, she paid when they went to Del Taco while he paid went they went to real restaurants where dinner for two sometimes cost more than her father made in a week but it was the principal of the thing. Mac honestly didn't always remember that at 22 her boyfriend owned a million dollar beach house. She was never with him for his bank account.

"We can't just move in together. We've barely been dating for six months."

"Six months and three years, remember? Your logic," Dick threw her argument from their first night back at her. It was his favorite tactic whenever she tried to protest that they hadn't been together long enough to do something.

Mac looked at him, trying to come up with something to forestall the inevitable.

"What am I supposed to tell my parents?" she challenged.

"That your new address is 2032 Ocean Drive," Dick retorted.

"Just like that?" Mac still didn't think it was that simple.

Dick frowned. "You're parents already think you live here."

Mac's eyes flew open in shock as she yelped, "What? No they don't. They'd kill me. They'd really kill you."

"It's cool. After graduation when we call came back here for brunch, your dad needed to use the head so I brought him up here with me when I was changing out of the monkey suit you made me wear. He saw two toothbrushes in the holder and some of your clothes in the closet when I had it open. I remember he came out here and picked up your hair brush off the dresser."

"Oh my God," Mac couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"He just kind of hit it in his palm a couple of times and asked me how long you'd been living here."

Mac was still staring at Dick with her mouth wide open in astonishment. There had been no scene. Her parents didn't yell. But now she was learning that they thought she'd been living here for months and they were seemingly okay with that.

"I couldn't exactly lie to him. I mean there was . . . you know . . . like evidence. I just told him the truth that you weren't living here but you . . . ah . . . stayed over a lot."

"And what did my dad say?" Mac asked afraid to know the answer.

Dick smiled. "He just said that he and your mom weren't fools and that they were young once too. He did the fatherly thing and threatened me if I hurt you." Mac stared at him but Dick just shrugged as if to say that such threats were expected. "He asked me what my intentions were."

Mac looked sheepish. "He didn't?"

"Yeah, he did. You're his little girl, babe." He kissed her nose. "That's what dads are supposed to do."

Swallowing, Mac asked, "And what did you tell him?"

"What do you think I told him?" Dick teased.

"You didn't?" Mac squeaked. Only one statement popped into her mind that Dick could have said that wouldn't have caused her dad to kill him.

"I told him that I intended to make you the happiest women on earth."

"That's it?" It hadn't been what Mac was thinking.

"What? You don't really think that after only a few months I told your father that I wanted to marry you, do you?" Now it was Dick's turn to be concerned. This discussion started because Mac didn't think they had been together long enough to be moving in with him but now she was pushing for a proposal.

"Honestly, I never know what's gonna come out of your mouth some days," Mac clarified.

Dick didn't say anything.

"Look, I gotta get to work. I'm gonna be late. Can we talk about this when I get home?"

Shaking his head Dick refused. "There's nothing to talk about. You're moving in."

Mac glared at him. Part of her wanted to scream. He was being too stubborn and unyielding about this.

"There's nothing to talk about. You're always here anyway. Half your stuff's here. Your parents are cool with it and you'll save money."

Sometimes Mac hated it when Dick made sense. She didn't want to give in to him on principle even though everything he said made sense.

"Besides, you just called this place your home. We're only gonna make it official with the Post Office 'n shit."

"I did say 'home' didn't I?" Mac was smart enough to back down when she knew Dick was right, which happened more often than his surfer dude persona would lead one to believe.

"Are you out of arguments yet?" Dick smirked.

Resigned, Mac agreed, "I guess it's settled. I'll move in when Logan moves out."

To Dick that seemed a little too easy. "You know you're not moving into his room, though, right?"

Raising her hand up to cup his cheek, Mac assured him that she knew her place. "I'll be right here where I belong, roomie."

Dick rewarded her with a sweet kiss then stepped back and slapped her playfully on the butt. "Then get to work, woman. The utility bills around here aren't gonna pay themselves."


	10. Playtime

**A/N:** This chapter discusses the origins of Sexy Surfer. It involves adult play, toys & general naughtiness. It is not recommended reading for work.

#~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Despite the long hours devoted to the retail business, Dick rarely passed up a chance to have fun. He had met Mac's younger brother, Ryan, at their Hearst graduation and taken the high school junior under his wing. They bonded over Ryan's love of skateboarding as Dick tried to convert him to surfing because wiping out on a wave was so much easier on the body than wiping out on concrete. That point was brutally driven home in January when a wipe out caused Dick to suffer a broken arm and a torn meniscus which required surgery.

Throughout his convalescence, Dick was a nightmare. His arm was in a cast so Mac had to help him dress. He complained so much that most days she just left him in his bathrobe. She'd put him in sweats on the days the physical therapist was coming over. It was easier to pay someone to come to the house rather than finding Dick a ride three times per week. His knee was in a brace so it was hard for him to stand. He couldn't really use crutches properly because of his arm. It was difficult for him to shower or do much unaided. He couldn't even play video games one handed. Mostly he laid around the house and grumbled. On more than one occasion the therapist threatened to quit. Somehow Mac always talked them into staying.

Since Dick's accident, Mac had been going to the surf shop every day after to work and all day on Saturday and Sunday to oversee the operation and close out every night. It meant very long days seven days per week for Mac which increased Dick's irritation because she was home even less. Alone and bored, he grew more impatient every day. He also couldn't drink because of the pain medications and antibiotics which didn't help his mood. Mac tried hiring a nurse to entertain him but he just fired her saying that the only woman that was going to be pushing and prodding him would be Mac. The only reason he kept the physical therapist around was that he knew he had to get stronger if he was going to surf again.

In an attempt to cheer up the invalid, Mac fashioned a naughty nurse's costume for their first Valentine's Day. The outlandish outfit consisted of the classic nurse's cap, a micro-mini white dress that zipped completely open down the front, a garter belt and white fishnet stockings. Mac paired this with a red push up bra and red thong.

Once the Surf Shop closed, she changed into her outfit in the backroom office and drove home in a trench coat, praying she didn't get pulled over. Inside the beach house she kicked off her sneakers and slipped on the 4 inch red hooker heels she bought at a local Joyce Leslie. Using the walls for support Mac wobbled down the hallway hoping she looked sexy but feeling like she looked silly.

Dropping the trench coat in the hall, Mac took a deep breath for courage and pushed opened the bedroom door. "Time for your sponge bath, Mr. Casablancas," she purred.

Dick definitely liked her outfit and certainly didn't think she looked silly. Immediately upon her entry into the room Dick's body reacted to show her that only his leg was broken. Dick Jr. was very happy to see his new nurse. Upon seeing Dick's very positive reaction to her outfit, Mac lost her inhibitions and gave herself over to this game she had started. Although he grabbed for her repeatedly, Mac always shimmied just out of reach until she had successfully stroked his entire body with warm water and lotion.

Once he realized that he wasn't going to get what he wanted until he let Mac have her wicked way with him, Dick laid back and gave in to her ministrations. After she bathed him with the warm water and dried him off, Mac unzipped the dress to show off more of her cleavage. Dick groaned each time he caught a peek of her red bra. The red thong was clearly visible every time she bent over or stretched because the hem of the dress, if you could even call the scrap of fabric a dress, was _that_ short. As Mac caressed the lotion onto Dick's angular body and relished the feel of his hard muscles under her hands, she lost herself so much in the sensations that she did not fend off Dick's good hand wandering up her leg and under the obscenely short skirt. Acting like he was reading braille Dick appreciated the different textures between the fishnet, the garter itself and Cindy's creamy thighs. When he reached up to massage her ass, she rewarded his bravery by unzipping the dress completely.

"I'm loving this uniform, Nurse Cindy!" Dick declared as he awkwardly tried to push the dress off her arms with his cast. Once she was free of the garment, Mac tossed it off the bed.

"I thought you might, Mr. Casablancas," Mac whispered huskily, trying to stay in character. "Is there anything else I can do for you tonight?" she asked climbing astride his upper thighs so that his erection jutted out in front of her against his stomach.

When he growled his response, Mac wrenched her body off his, putting all her weight on her knees and removing herself from his body. "I'm not hurting you, am I?" she asked in alarm when Dick growled, mistakenly thinking she had re-injured his bad knee.

Dick drank in the sight of the dark haired beauty in her little red nothings and shook his head no. Bringing his hands up to caress her breasts, Dick urged her back down. "I do ache for you, babe."

If Dick could crack dirty jokes, Mac knew he was fine. She settled herself back down.

Flipping open her bra to free her breasts that were begging to spill out, Dick suggested, "You could kiss my pain away."

"I could, huh?" she teased, bending down to kiss him before licking and nipping her way down his body. Reaching her target, Mac moved back careful not to bump Dick's bad knee as she licked her way up and down his shaft before dipping her head to suckle each of his balls into her warm, wet mouth.

Dick groaned in delight from her oral onslaught.

Mac played with his penis for several minutes until she recognized from his moans and movements that Dick was about to come. Grabbing the base of his cock she squeezed gently forestalling his erection. Sliding off her thong, Mac crawled back up Dick's body and settled herself over his jutting memeber. She massaged his penis against her opening to assure they had proper lubrication before impaling herself on him. Unlike the first time she had wanted to be on top, last February, by now Mac was an expert in Dick's rodeo of love.

Crying out her own orgasm moments before he emptied himself inside her, Mac forced herself to maintain enough control to not just flop down atop of her injured boyfriend. Rolling to his good side side, Mac used one of the towels from her sponge bath of Dick to absorb the leakage, then snuggled down against his chest.

"Talk about an awesome Valentine's Day, babe," Dick enthused. "Did you get the flowers I sent to your office? They seem kinda lame in comparison."

Mac kissed him sweetly. "I did. They were beautiful. Thank you."

"No thank you!" Surprisingly the nurse's cap remained in place on Mac's head during their x-rated mutual physical examination. Mac unpinned it from her head. "You're the best, Nurse Cindy," Dick praised. "I totally wasn't expecting something like this but I gotta say it was freaking fan-fucking-tastic!"

"Happy anniversary." Blushing Mac admitted, "I wasn't sure I could go through with it."

"Why not?" Dick was worried that somehow Mac wasn't as secure as she should be.

"I dunno. I guess I thought I would feel silly."

Dick shook his head. "No way, babe. You are like the hottest nurse ever. I think you have to give me sponge baths all the time."

Flattered at his praise, Mac agreed, as she looked at him shyly. "That could probably be arranged."

"Seriously, if you were so nervous, why'd you do it?" Dick asked. The last thing he ever wanted to do was make her dislike sex.

"'Cause you're a pervert and I figured you'd like it," Mac admitted.

In the year that they had been together Mac had become more comfortable and more adventurous in her own sexuality. Nothing was off limits for Dick. He had been helping her to realize that sex was healthy, fun and loving. After her initial reluctance about being naked in the hot tub with him, he had introduced other elements into their love life including whipped cream and chocolate, which was a lot more difficult because Mac was a vegetarian. They don't exactly make commercial whipped soy cream and the whole experience lost something for Dick when they used non-dairy whipped topping instead of the can.

Wiggling his eyebrows at her, Dick conceded her point. "So I have this other fantasy about a naughty school girl . . . pig tails, short skirt, see through blouse, white panties . . ."

Within a few months, the closet in what had been Logan's room was filled with Mac's costumes: the original naughty nurse; the school girl; a leopard print off the shoulder number with matching loin cloth for Dick; a coconut bra and grass skirt; and a cheerleader's outfit complete with pom poms. They had discovered there was no easy, classy place to buy these things so they often cobbled together the outfits from a combination of Victoria's Secret and thrift store finds that Mac modified. Growing up without the riches afforded to Dick and, along with Veronica, cultivating an avant-garde fashion sense, Mac could sew a little which helped when they needed to tailor the outfits.

Under the guise of "research" Dick even convinced Mac to watch a few porn movies with him. Although many of the X-rated films were cheesy and badly acted, the couple quickly realized that it added a little extra spice to their already hot love life. Mac often complained that the movies showed women in a degrading light and that she wanted to see something that was more romantic and possibly empowering to women rather than cum shots and clips of women deep throating men.

After the films came the toys. Dick bought a vibrator which they would use together to increase the intensity of Mac's orgasms. If pressed, Dick would reluctantly concede that sometimes he liked the feel of it against his nipples.

Dick never pushed but he would nudge. He helped Mac expand her sexual horizons. Every time they tried something new that she had never done before and she discovered how enjoyable it was, her trust for Dick and their relationship grew. For his part, Dick was thrilled that Mac would eventually try almost anything he suggested which gave him all the incentive he needed to introduce new elements into their bedroom that he never would have dared asked another woman for, except in his most X-rated fantasies. Mac drew the line at certain things like anal and swinging but when she trusted him enough to let him tie her up and blindfold her, he knew without a doubt that she was the woman of both his dreams and his fantasies.

The Spring after Dick's convalescence, Sexy Surfer was being honored by the Neptune Chamber of Commerce as the best new business of the year. Dick was required to attend the black tie dinner as an honoree. Leading up to the event Dick whined that he didn't want to go.

"It'll be soooo stuffy and booooring. You don't know how it is, Cin. All those douche bags just like my Dad. Showing off. Trying to prove they all have more money than the other guy. I don't want any part of that," Dick protested.

"I know but you have to go because you won," Mac replied sensibly.

"You don't even like rubber chicken. I don't want to make a speech or anything."

"Dick," Mac countered, "You know as well as I go that personal appearances are part of any good marketing strategy. The publicity will be good for business."

"So what? You're not the one who has to parade around in a monkey suit. Me in a tux is not going to sell surfboards. Now you in a bikini . . . that will sell anything."

Mac kissed him for the compliment. "I can't wear a bikini to a black tie dinner."

"It'll be hot," Dick suggested.

Rolling her eyes, Mac shut him up quickly. "I'm not Kendall."

At the mention of his long disappeared stepmother Dick realized his error. "Of course not, babe. I never meant to say that you were anything like that slut."

"So we're agreed. You're going to the Chamber Dinner. I already programed the date into your blackberry."

"Yes, dear."

A few weeks later as they were getting dressed for the event Dick walked into the bedroom carrying a small gift bag dangling from his finger.

Mac smiled sweetly at him. "Whatcha got there?" she asked nodding toward the bag.

"Just a little something to make the dinner a little more entertaining," Dick answered mysteriously.

Mac did not like the sound of that answer.

"C'mon, open it. You know you're dying to know what it's in here," Dick taunted her. Mac loved the silly little presents Dick would often get her. Dick loved seeing Mac smile and he would do anything to make that happen.

Reaching out a tentative hand, Mac took the bag from him. Digging through the tissue paper she extracted a scrap of black fabric. Holding them up she eyed Dick suspiciously, "Tell me these aren't what I think they are."

Smirking, Dick tossed it back to her. "Depends. What do you think they are?"

Mac turned the fabric back and forth before answering. "Crotchless panties."

Leaning in to kiss her lips, Dick praised her deduction. "That's my girl. You are so smart."

Still leery of his motives Mac asked, "Why did you buy me crotchless panties, honey?"

"Duh," Dick responded leering at her.

"Obvious aside. Why did you buy me crotchless panties and give them to me now, Dick," Mac wondered, afraid of the answer.

"So that you can wear them to this boring dinner, Cindy," Dick nodded his head up and down in anticipation of deflecting her as yet unspoken protests.

"I am not wearing crotchless panties to the Chamber of Commerce dinner!" she squealed.

"Commando it is, then," Dick countered reaching under Mac's full skirt to start sliding her underwear down her bare legs.

"I can't go to a Chamber of Commerce dinner without underwear, Dick," Mac protested.

"Okay, we can just stay home and get naked and make a little love," Dick offered by way of compromise as he pressed his body closer to hers.

Grabbing his hands over her skirt to forestall him from removing her panties Mac replied, "We've been over this. You are an honoree. You have to go to the dinner. It will be good for business."

"The dinner will be so boring. I need some motivation."

"Profits. Think about the money," Mac encouraged him. "Your little store is growing."

"Something else is growing too," Dick shared, rubbing up against her.

"Dick!" Mac chirped. Now was not the time to be starting something they couldn't finish. Mac was barely containing herself. Dick in a tuxedo was one of those wondrous sights that could make her forget her own name. She'd do almost anything he asked when he was dressed liked that but mostly she simply wanted to get him undressed.

"I'm right here, babe." He removed his hands from under her skirt and patted his chest.

"Stop fooling around and let's go."

"No," Dick replied firmly. "Not until you take those panties off."

Mac's eyes went wide at his audacious suggestion.

"I'll go to the dinner but you are either wearing your new panties or no panties," Dick declared. "Otherwise I'm not going."

"I can't go to a Chamber of Commerce dinner without underwear, Dick!" Mac cried.

"I figured you'd say that," Dick reasoned. "Which is why I bought you the new panties."

It was getting late. Mac glared at him. "If I put these on you'll come?"

Smirking he took the bait Mac didn't realize she'd dangled. Dick leaned over and cupped Mac's ass through the fabric of her dress while whispering in her ear, "No, but you definitely will."

He still had the ability to make her blush and a faint pink tinged her ears and throat at his audacious words.

Sputtering, Mac clarified, "No. I . . . I meant . . .go . . .not . . . . You'll go to the Chamber dinner?"

Nodding, Dick agreed, "If you wear your new panties.."

Still glaring at him but knowing how important this dinner was to the growing business, Mac spit out, "Fine," as she shoved his hands away and removed her underwear before stepping into the new crotchless panties. "Satisfied?"

"Nope," Dick leered at her. "Lemme see them."

"What?!" Mac almost choked.

"Hold up your skirt and let me see." The lust was pouring off Dick's handsome face. He really didn't want to go to this dinner but sometimes, like tonight, he loved pushing Cindy's buttons.

Narrowing her eyes at him and seething, Mac confirmed, "If I do this, we can go?"

"Scout's honor," Dick held up his fingers in the shocker.

Blowing out a deep breath Mac steeled herself. "God. How do I let you talk me into these things?" She gathered up her skirts and modeled his gift for Dick, blushing all the while and refusing to meet his lecherous gaze full on but rather ducking her head and glancing at him like a shy schoolgirl rather than a confident adult woman.

Mac's tentativeness made Dick's blood flow like moltan lava. He took advantage of the situation to stroke her folds as he pressed a kiss to her cheek. "God, I love you."

Mac bucked her hips toward his hand but he pulled back and wouldn't let her suck his finger into her wet channel. Now she was annoyed with him for a whole other reason.

"C'mon," Dick encouraged as he grabbed her hand to pull her out of the bedroom as though it were her fault they were now behind schedule.

When they got to the bottom of the stairs Dick turned to look at Mac once their heights were more even. He placed both his hands on her hips. "For the record, you got yourself into this . . . Cindy . . . because you turned out to be the girl of my dreams. This shit turns you on as much as it does me."

Mac blushed again and turned away. She hated to be reminded that Dick could make her so wanton. "Nobody is as horny as you are," she lied.

Dick kissed her fully on the mouth but chastely, "'Cept you, babe. I'm not the one wearing crotchless panties to go have dinner with the cream of Neptune society." Finishing his teasing, Dick stepped out of arms' reach to avoid the swat he knew was coming and scurried toward the garage.

"I'll show you cream," Mac threatened chasing after him and laughing.

Dick remained beside himself knowing that once he ignited her fire, his quiet little Cindy was a wild woman in the bedroom and still a lady in public. _Tonight was gonna be a good night_.

The dinner was as boring as Dick predicted. It was all Mac could do to keep his hands out of her lap during the speeches. No matter how many times she moved it, his hand kept snaking its way back under her skirt. During the mayor's address, they slipped outside to the side of the building for a steamy make-out session. As Dick was caressing her bare bottom and moving deeper toward her pussy, they were almost caught by two waiters who had come outside for a smoke. That dampened the mood for them both, so they straightened up their clothes and headed back in just as the political blather was ending.

By the time they got home Dick and Mac was too far gone to even make it out of the garage. The automatic door had barely closed before Dick was thrusting up inside Mac pressed against his car.

After that night it became a ritual, especially if it was an event that Dick didn't want to attend. If it was important to Mac, she'd break out the crotchless panties. At times, particularly in winter when Mac complained about being cold, she'd wear a garter belt and stocking but nothing to impede Dick's access to her most closely guarded secrets.

#~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The tables turned before the Christmas when Mac didn't want to attend her software company's annual holiday party. "No," she tried to beg off when Dick encouraged her to go. "Holiday parties are creepy. Too much fake cheer. Like I really care if my co-workers have a Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukah. No, we'll just say we have other plans."

"Sorry, babe," Dick disagreed. "What are you always telling me? I have to go because it will be good for business. You going and getting' a little face time with the boss will be good for your career."

"How about I get a little 'face time' with you, instead?" Mac pushed Dick back on the couch and moved to straddle his face, lifting up her skirt as she did so. Usually distracting Dick with sex was very easy.

Knowing he was gonna win this round, Dick countered, "You can have all the face time you want but first you have to agree to go to the Christmas party or no ride on the Dick train for you, missy." He tormented his rejection by holding her thighs so she couldn't sit on his face yet he placed soft kisses on the inside of her knees and blew warm air on her, making her shiver and yearn for more direct contact.

"Just kiss me already," she begged, moving her panties aside and struggling to slide her hips closer than his mouth. Unfortunately for Mac in this situation, Dick's superior physical size and strength gave all of the advantages to him.

"I'd be happy to, Cindy," he promised continuing his torture. "All you have to do is agree to go to the Christmas party. I'll make it worth your while."

Mac was overcome with lust. Dick just had that effect on her. Even though she started this little game of torture by trying to sit on his face, his proximity and the teasing nature of his kisses had wound her so tight she could do nothing but agree to his every demand. "Fine," she breathed.

As the last breathy syllable left her mouth, Dick released the pressure on her thighs and allowed her to slide forward. He replaced his hand with hers to hold her panties out of the way so she could use hers for balance as he devoured her to their mutual delight.

#~*~*~*~*~*~*

Mac had chosen a forest green halter dress with a body skimming ruched skirt for her Company's Christmas party. The long lines of the bodice held her breasts without making her look top heavy, especially since she couldn't wear a bra with the backless garment. The short hem of the skirt gave the dress a youthful, playful feel. Mac's favorite part was that the dress had pockets.

Mac had just hooked the clasp of her necklace around her throat and nestled the emerald tear drop between her breasts when Dick came in the room swinging a small gift bag from his finger tip.

"What's that?" Mac asked coyly, knowing that it was probably new underwear for tonight. Dick had promised to make it worth her while which is why she had forgone undergarments as she was getting dressed. She wanted Dick to have easy access.

Handing the bag over to her, Dick suggested, "Why don't you find out?"

Smiling Mac reached in and pulled out a lacy red garment but there was something hard inside. She held them up for a more detailed inspection. They were clearly panties but Mac couldn't figure out what the little nub was. "I don't get it."

"They're vibrating panties," Dick explained. "You put them on. The little plastic thing fits right over your . . . . right over you."

Mac wrinkled her nose without understanding so Dick was blunt. "It sits on your clit . . . and vibrates," he explained in a husky whisper.

Mac's eyes widened in shock. She had heard of such things but never imagined she'd consider wearing them, at least not out in public.

Reaching into his suit coat pocket, he pulled out something that looked like a key fob for a car. "And I have the remote." For show, he pushed the button and the panties started to vibrate in Mac's hands.

Dropping the panties on the floor, Mac screeched, "I can't wear that to my company Christmas party!"

Dick turned the device off and scooped the panties off the floor. He moved to encircle Mac's tiny waist in his arms. "Sure you can. It'll be your reward for being a good girl and going to the party."

Mac's eyes remained wide with disbelief. Dick started kissing her neck and her cleavage. He moved aside the dress and swirled one of her nipples in his mouth. "You're gonna love it. We can even leave early if it gets to be too much for you." Dick winked. Knowing how responsive Cindy was, he was fairly certain they wouldn't make it through dinner.

Since they had been playing naughty games at the various functions Dick was required to attend, Mac felt she owed him. She had really enjoyed the vibrator Dick brought home a few months earlier. This was much smaller than that and it would certainly liven up was she expected would be a deadly dull event. Computer programmers were certainly not the most social group of people. "Well," she mused logically. "Let's see how they feel." Mac took the panties from Dick and slipped them on. She had to adjust them so that the vibrating piece was snug over her clit. Once she was finished she looked up at Dick and silently gave him permission. He hit the button on the lowest setting and Mac started to squirm. A soft smile played on her lips.

"I'm thinking my girl is liking this," he bragged.

Taking a shaky breath, Mac agreed. "Oh yea."

Dick kissed her cheek as he turned off the remote. "I promise not to do that do you while you're talking to the company President. Only during the boring parts. "

"Let's go. As soon as we get there, the sooner we can leave," Mac ordered.

They barely made it through the cocktail hour before Mac practically dragged Dick out of the party by his tie, feigning a mysterious stomach ailment.


	11. Open for Business

**A/N:** There's some extra LoVe in this chapter.

#*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 11

A few weeks after Mac's company's party Logan and Veronica made a surprise visit home for Christmas and New Years. They said they needed to get out of the cold in northern Virginia, which while warm by east coast standards, was still too frigid for Southern California natives.

Although Keith had moved out of the tiny apartment he had shared with Veronica through high school and college, the couple didn't want to stay with him in his new bungalow. While the former Sheriff knew they were living together in Virginia, seeing it was a whole different ballgame. To make things easier on everybody, Logan and Veronica opted to stay with Mac and Dick in Logan's old room at the beach house, which was now their guest room. Mac had been so busy at work that she hadn't given much thought to her house guests. She had changed the sheets and put fresh towels in the bathroom but it never dawned on Dick to clean out Logan's old closet where they had been stashing all of their new playthings.

Thus Logan had found the costumes and toys inadvertently when he opened his old closet to hang up his and Veronica's clothes. Dick had followed his buddy upstairs to help with the bags while the girls remained downstairs.

"Jeez, Dick. What are you opening a porn store in here?" Logan kidded looking at the contents of the closet and trying not to imagine Mac in the school girl outfit. In an open box he saw handcuffs and a vibrator. Dick immediately slammed the lid and silently prayed that Mac wouldn't find out that Logan saw their toys.

Dick shrugged. "We like to spice things up once in a while."

Despite the fact that Dick and Mac had been living together for over a year and a half and had been together for almost two sometimes Logan wasn't quite able process the pairing. I guess you never really know what goes on behind closed doors, he reminded himself remembering how shiny and perfect his parents' screwed up marriage looked on the outside.

"Don't knock it, 'till you try it, dude" Dick suggested. "I still remember all those fantasies you had about Ronnie and those knee socks. You tellin' me you never thought about askin' her to put 'em back on just so you could take 'em off . . with your teeth?"

There was no response to that question that would keep his dignity and Veronica's modesty, so Logan simply punched Dick in the chest, not hard enough to do damage but hard enough to drive home the point that this conversation would not be continuing.

Logan had to admit to himself that seeing Veronica again in her pep squad outfit was something to consider but he'd never say it out loud to Dick. Reaching in to the closet he held up the cheerleader outfit and admired it thoughtfully.

Both men smiled – Logan at the thought of Veronica in the tiny costume and Dick at the memory of Mac cheering him on.

"Go team!" Dick offered. "Me closet is su closet."

Logan looked at him aghast, but Dick could see the wheels turning in his friend's head

"Just ah . . . don't tell Mac and . . . use the new stuff in the packages," Dick suggested. Borrowing clothes was one thing but certain things you just don't share.

The day after Christmas, everybody had decided to turn in early. The bustle of the holidays and the surfing which Logan hadn't done in months had everybody needing to recharge but Logan wasn't especially tired. While Veronica was in the bathroom brushing her teeth, he kept looking at the closet and thinking about that cheerleader outfit. Dick wasn't wrong but Logan wanted to peel more than just knee socks off Veronica. His cock was already starting to show an interest in this particular possible fantasy come to life.

When she emerged from the bathroom, face freshly scrubbed, teeth minty fresh and putting her hair in a ponytail Veronica found Logan stretched out on the bed hands pillowed behind his head and his legs crossed with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. It immediately elevated her heart rate and blood flow.

"What?" she asked half-heartedly nervous.

Logan had known her curiosity would be piqued. "How'd you like to give me a belated Christmas present?"

Veronica could immediately tell by the low playful timber of his voice that whatever this "belated Christmas present" was it was something dirty but she was willing to play along. "What'd you have in mind?"

"Did I ever tell you how many fantasies I had about you in your pep squad uniform?"

Veronica smiled and clapped her hands together in a smart cheer squad routine. "Gimme an L. Gimme an O. Gimme a G. Gimme an A. Gimme an N. What's it spell? PERVERT!" She did a split on the side of the bed so he could see just how flexible she was.

"It's good to know you still have the routine down," Logan eyed her appreciatively walking toward the closet. "But I think a visual might help."

Getting up to sit on the edge of the bed, Veronica looked at Logan for further explanation. He slid the closet open slightly and pulled out the cheerleading outfit complete with pom poms and white knee socks. At first blush it looked like a normal cheerleading outfit but then you realized that the top was very short, coming just under the breasts; the team logo was Velcro and could be easily removed leaving the cheerleader virtually topless; the underpants were see-through and crotches. All in all it was a very naughty cheerleader's outfit. He held it out to her with an unspoken request in his eyes.

Veronica could hardly believe what she was seeing.

"For me," he requested.

"I can't believe you brought a cheerleader's outfit into our friends' home," Veronica chastised her lover. "We can't do that here."

"Sure we can," Logan assured her. Casting his eyes downward a bit with guilt, he admitted, "I ah. . . I didn't exactly bring this into their home."

"Where'd it come from, then?"

"The closet," Logan retorted.

Scowling Veronica pressed on. "I know it came from the closet. How'd it get there if you didn't put it there?"

"It's theirs," Logan replied.

"Whaddya mean it's theirs?"

Backpedaling, Logan slid open the closet door to reveal some of Mac's other outfits. Veronica's eyes flew open in surprise and mouth opened in shock. "Who woodda thought that Mac and Dick liked to play dress up."

"Still waters run deep I guess," was all the response Logan made. While he was pretty sure Dick had been into some pretty kinky shit, he still didn't really want to think about quiet little Mac having sex, much less dirty sex with his best friend.

By now Veronica was at his side pawing through the clothes. "Leopard . . . naughty nurse, school girl . . . . my oh my." She was starting to blush which made her even sexier and more appealing in Logan's eyes.

"So how 'bout it?" Logan held the cheerleading outfit out to her and raised his eyebrows in a lecherous question. "For the team?"

"Is there a football player uniform in here for you too?"

"Don't care. This is all about the knee socks," Logan explained.

"Do you have a foot fetish now that I don't know about?"

"Nope," he popped his "p" and planted a sweet peck on his girlfriend's lips. "I have a Veronica fetish of which you are intimately acquainted."

Stepping toward him, Veronica wound her arms around his neck and pulled his head down. "And this fetish of yours involves me what cheering you on?" He smiled lecherously and she kissed him deeply. When he released her lips, Logan assured her, "If you put this on I promise there will be lots of scoring!"

Grabbing the hanger from him, Veronica disappeared into the bathroom, calling over her shoulder before she shut the door, "Let the games begin!"

A few moments later when Veronica emerged from the bathroom in the pornographic cheerleading outfit, all the blood in Logan's body rushed straight to his dick. She had taken the time to put her hair in pigtails and was doing high kicks showing off those socks and how little the panties covered. "Sex! Sex! Who wants sex?" she chanted.

"Me! Me! Me!" Logan volunteered waiving his cock at her.

Once she reached the foot of the bed Veronica did a roll and tuck onto the mattress, landing legs splayed wide open for Logan's viewing pleasure. All thoughts of the costume's owners had disappeared from both of their brains.

Sitting up, Logan began kissing Veronica and massaging his hands over all her exposed skin. Her hands weren't idle but played with his chest hair and nipples. Fair was fair so Logan took the time to remove the logo from her chest and dive in to suckle her newly exposed breasts. Allowing his hands to roam, he tugged off her panties and fully explored underneath her short skirt.

Because first the idea of the fantasy and then the visual itself already had Logan on sexual overload, he didn't waste much more time with preliminaries. Instead, he wrapped his arms around Veronica and laid down on his back, dragging her on top of him. She knew exactly what he wanted and moved to straddle his impressive erection. Once balanced on top of his cock, Veronica took a second to whip the uniform top over her head. Now she was bouncing on Logan's shaft in nothing but knee socks and a flip skirt. Thrusting her hands and arms up and out, Veronica continued her vulgar cheer, "F . . U . . .C . . K. Fuck me. Fuck me."

Logan couldn't control himself. He'd make it up to her in the morning. Grabbing Veronica's calves just below her knees so he was holding on to those wonderful knee socks Logan emptied himself into his favorite cheerleader. Once she had felt him start to spurt, Veronica took care of herself. She knew this was Logan's fantasy but she wasn't going to let him leave her hanging. With a well-placed finger she was able to draw an orgasm out of her own body before disengaging herself from him.

As Veronica headed to the bathroom wearing just the skirt and knee socks, shaking her booty in an exaggerated matter Logan called, "What no post game cuddling?"

Veronica smirked over her shoulder. "I'll give you post game wrap up but honestly, I need to clean up a little. I ah . . . . well . . . I don't want to stain this," she explained, reminding them both that they just borrowed somebody else's sex toy.

A few weeks later after Dick and Mac had finished playing Doctor and they were lying in bed, Dick mentioned Logan's quip about owning a porn store. "You know when Ronnie and Logan were here he . . . ah . . . opened the closet."

"So?" Mac responded distractedly not understanding what he meant. She was still happily reveling in her post coital bliss.

Dick looked at her pointedly. "_The Closet_ . . . in Logan's old room."

"Oh my God!" Blushing, Mac sat up in alarm. "You didn't tell me that!" Dropping her still red face in her hands Mac mumbled, "I am so embarrassed."

"Embarrassed?" Dick asked peeling one of her hands away and contorting to look at her face. "Why? He thought it was hot and I think he got Ronnie to wear the cheerleader outfit while they were here."

Now Mac was grossed out thinking about her friend wearing one of her sex outfits. Dick could read the disgust on her face. "Don't worry. I saw Ronnie doing laundry and washing it." That information made Mac feel a little better.

"Why are you telling me this now?" Mac inquired.

Reclining back with his hands under his head, stretched out on the bed as Mac sat crossed legged but equally naked next to him Dick began, "I was just thinking . . ."

"Always a dangerous proposition," quipped Mac.

"No, I'm being serious. This is business."

Naked or not, Mac knew that when Dick was talking about business or money he was usually serious. "Okay, what?"

"Logan made a crack about us opening a porn store. . ." Mac groaned in renewed embarrassment but Dick ignored her and continued. "and I've been thinking. . . why not?"

"Why not what?" Mac wasn't following.

"Why not open a porn store?" Dick explained. "The space next to the surf shop is coming up for lease in a few months."

"No," Mac immediately nixed the idea. "Do you know what kind of gross people – perverts – that will bring? Nice people won't want to come to the surf shop if it's next to an adult store."

"Wouldn't bother me. Might be cool. Sex . . surf . . . what could be better?" Dick postulated.

"It's just so seedy," Mac rejoined.

"Sex or surf?"

Shoving his shoulder, Mac teased, "You."

"Yeah, but you love it!" Dick reached up to grab her. She willing allowed herself to be drawn on top of him for round two of that night's escapades.

The next morning Dick found Mac hard at work on the computer going over the e-tail side of the Surf Shop.

Plopping down next to her he opened, "You really don't like the idea of us opening a porn shop?"

"Us?" Mac looked at him quizzically. "You're the entrepreneur. I'm just the hired help."

"C'mon, Cindy. You're the brains of this outfit and you know it." Dick corrected her.

"It was your idea to buy the surf shop. It was your idea to branch into surf equipment for women. It was . . . "

Before she could continue, Dick cut her off, "My ideas maybe. But you made it all happen. I wouldn't have known how to go on line and do all that shit." He waved his hand over the monitor she was using.

"You would have hired somebody," Mac dismissed her contribution and returned to her work.

Dick had walked up behind her chair and begun massaging her shoulders which caused her silk robe to part slightly revealing more of her ample bosom to his lusty gaze and wandering hands. "Maybe, but it wouldn't have been as much fun to sexually harass the IT department," he joked as he opened the robe to grope her breasts, gently kneading the globes and pulling her nipples to attention. The sensations sent sparks straight to her groin which was moistening with every caress.

Shortly after their relationship took off, Mac learned that it was easier to give in to Dick's spoken and unspoken requests for sex because once their love making was over, wherever it began, he'd let her go back to work. If she tried to put him off for anything but the most serious deadlines, he'd just annoy her until she gave in, effectively wasting too much of her time and diminishing their mutual pleasure because she'd end up in a pissy mood.

This morning was no different. Spinning the leather office chair away from the desk and toward him, Dick sank to the floor and pulled Mac's hips to the edge of the seat. He eased her legs up over the arms of the chair spreading her secrets open to him. Planting a kiss on each thigh Dick reveled in the scent of his lover as he teased his way up her open legs. Her fingers slipped through the strands of his hair, not urging his head in any particular direction but simply enjoying the feel of his silky tresses against her skin. He used his fingers to play around the edge of her lips and watched in wonder as the blood engorged her. He blew a soft, cool stream of air against her heating center and lifted his eyes to watch her shiver in anticipation. Until he'd met Cindy, Dick had always thought of himself as a _wham bam thank you ma'am_ kind of guy – get in, get off, get out – but once he discovered all the slow delicious ways he could torture this responsive goddess, Dick preferred to take his time. He loved winding Mac up to the point where she was begging for release.

"Please, Dick," she mewled. "I need. . ."

"What do you need?" He punctuated his question by dragging his finger ever so lightly across the hood of her clit, barely touching her but making her squirm. He loved her like this, open and needy. "Tell me what you need, baby."

Barely able to speak, Mac breathed. "You."

He touched her a little more forcefully and dipped his finger slightly. "You got me," he assured her.

"Nooooooo," she whined. "Your . . . your. . ." Her breath was hitched in anticipation. She knew he was gonna make her say it. "Your tongue."

Dick licked a wide swath up the crease of each thigh, studiously avoiding the center.

"Ohhhh," Mac gasped. "My . . . my. . ."

"Just say it. Whatever you say, I'll do," Dick encouraged her.

"My clit, lick my . . ." Her voice jumped an octave as Dick's tongue hit her sensitive buzzer "Clit!"

This chair provided him with the perfect angle for access. Mac was spread out wide open at face level. He could lick from her clit down her perineum to gently rim her back door which sent her squirming away from her. Anal play was still not one of Mac's preferences. Moving his head back up for a second pass Dick climbed to his knees to give himself more maneuverability. It wasn't long after he slid two fingers into a decidedly slick Mac that she was bucking her orgasm into his greedy mouth.

Dick sat back to admire his handiwork – the beautiful sated woman trying to reclaim her breath. Bonelessly she slid out of the chair and onto his lap where he cuddled her to his bare chest. Rocking softly against his cotton sleep shorts, Mac chastised him. "You're wearing too many clothes."

Dick lifted his hips and Mac up enough so he could slide his shorts off. He barely got his straining erection free before Mac was positioning it to slip into her moist depths. Once he was fully ensheathed by her body, she rocked them harder, keeping his full length inside as much as possible as she clenched her muscles around him, squeezing him like a snake.

"Slide," he begged her, craving more friction.

Repositioning herself onto her knees without dislodging their bodies, Mac gave herself the leverage she needed to piston herself up and down on Dick's cock. Feeling his balls start to tighten, Dick reached between their bodies to rub Mac's clit sending her over the edge. The powerful contractions of her orgasm pulled his ejaculate from his eager body.

As the last drops shot from his body, Dick reached to bring Mac down for a lazy loving kiss. "I will never get tired of that," he promised reverently.

"I love you too," Mac assured the sated man whose soft cock was still nestled inside her.

His sexual appetite temporarily satiated, Dick wasn't giving up his business proposition. "There is something to this porn idea. Aren't you the one who's always complaining that porn is all about men? Let's make this about women, the way we did with the surf shop."

Now Mac was intrigued. Being with Dick had given her the confidence to explore her own sexuality and branch out in ways she never would have dreamed back when she thought she was frozen from the waist down. While she wasn't the biggest surf fan in the world and could barely stand up for more than a few seconds, the numbers didn't lie. Women were flocking to the surf shop in droves and orders poured into the website from all over the world, even though the shop's best advertising was still word of mouth and its web presence. "Porn for women?"

"Not just porn. Sex for women. Besides, we're not gonna make the movies . . . although I did buy a new video camera last week . . ." Dick suggested lasciviously.

Mac held up her hands in protest. "No. No. No. No cameras. Ever." The whole scandal with Veronica and Piz freshman year soured Mac forever on the idea of making her own naughty tape with Dick. It was one of the few areas of their love and sex life she refused to explore. "I told you if you even bring that thing into our room, I'm throwing it and you out the window."

"Understood, babe. I know how you feel and why, but you gotta admit, it'd be hot!" enthused Dick.

"That's not the point," Mac bit out too harshly before downshifting. She climbed out of his lap and refastened the robe before sitting back in her desk chair, somewhat more properly attired to discuss business. "So tell me more about this retail idea of yours."

Dick got off the floor and yanked his sweat shorts on. He began to pace around the room; something he did to help him think. "You said it last night. The adult store business has a bad rep. People think it's skeevy . . .but it shouldn't be. It should be about hotness. . . you know fun. . . good times, great sex. . . parties."

"Ew," Mac expressed her disgust. She never wanted to watch the movies with group scenes. Sex would always be between two people in her opinion.

"Not those kind of parties," Dick explained. "Get your mind out of the gutter."

Mac blushed. It wasn't often she was the one with the dirty mind in this relationship.

"Regular parties. Go out. Hook up. Get laid. Maybe play around a little." Mac smiled at his recollection of what had basically been Dick's life before her. "This should be a place where chicks wanna go. Where they'd feel safe. You know how you always make me drive to the store when we get new toys and how if you even come with me you won't get out of the car because the neighborhoods are so bad."

Mac nodded understanding where he was going with this. "What if we make it on-line? Plain wrappers so women don't have to leave the privacy of their own homes?"

"Now you're thinking, Mackie!" Dick praised. "I like it. We make way more profit on the on-line surfing stuff because warehousing and shipping are way cheaper than retail space."

"And we were talking about outsourcing some of the fulfillment," Mac reminded him.

"This could work," Dick's wheels were turning as the idea for Sexy Surfer was born. Ninety days later they launched the website with a few toys, some vibrating panties, and a couple of outfits. At first they only advertised on the GradeYour[BodyPart] websites, keeping it all in the family so to speak, and cross-promoted it with the Surf Shop.

By summer, business was booming and the sex business was more profitable than the surf shop.


	12. Commitments

**A/N:** When we last left, after Dick convinced Logan to talk Veronica into trying on the cheerleader costume, Logan planted the seed of an idea that eventually became Dick and Mac's life long business. . . with a little bit of naughty pleasure thrown in for good measure.

*~*~*~*~* PRESENT DAY ~*~*~*~*~*

"I kinda remember that trip," Veronica blushes as she wordlessly admits to having engaged in some roll playing of her own.

Mandy can't resist and asks, "Did dad really make you get knee socks after that?"

Although she can't believe her daughter actually asked her that, after taking a sip of the wine Lilly had poured for her, Veronica decides to tease her back, "I think I was wearing them when you were conceived."

"Mom!" Mandy gasps as Lily pipes up from the corner, "Way to go Aunt 'Ronica!"

"It turned out to a be a good business model," Mac reminds them. "It paid for this house a hundred times over."

~*~*~*~*~FLASHBACK ~*~*~*~*~*

They were having dinner at home, sitting on the deck listening to the waves. Dick was enjoying a steak while Mac was happily chowing down on a grilled portabella mushroom "burger" and a side salad.

"God, I'm glad it's Friday," Mac shared taking a sip of her wine and watching the sun dip into the ocean. You could hear the weariness in her voice.

Automatically Dick reached out a long arm and massaged her tired shoulders.

"Are you gonna have time to do that website upgrade we need? We're runnin' outta band width or something with all the traffic," Dick reminded her.

Grimacing, Mac leaned back into his touch. "Yeah, . . ." she sighed. "I'll do it. We're nowhere if the server crashes."

"I've been thinking about that," Dick began but didn't stop rubbing Mac's shoulders. "You work too hard."

"So you're finally admitting you're a slave driver?" Mac joked.

"Not me. You're other job," Dick clarified. "I think you should quit."

Mac chuckled at his ridiculous suggestion. "I can't quit my job, Dick."

"Why not?"

"Ah. . . what would I live on?" Mac asked.

"Love," Dick quickly supplied with a big grin, but Mac only glared at that answer so he continued. "Come work for the businesses full time."

Shaking her head Mac declared, "I'm not gonna be your employee."

Dick stopped rubbing Mac's shoulders and sat back down. Turning her chair to face him, he grew serious as the last of the daylight faded into the horizon. "As my partner."

Rolling her eyes, Mac immediately dismissed that suggestion. "If you need to raise capital don't you think you'd be better off talking to Logan or one of your frat brothers? I'm sure they'd love to buy in."

"We don't need capital, Cindy. You do the books. You see the numbers. Cash isn't the problem. But I do need help and I need somebody I trust."

Mac smiled softly at her boyfriend. Although they didn't discuss it often, Dick was always cautious about people using him for his money. While he wasn't as paranoid as Logan, he was circumspect when it came to finances and financial advice. He was all too well aware that his father made a fortune fleecing unsuspecting investors.

When she didn't immediately shoot him down, Dick kept talking. "You have always been my number one, behind the scenes, go-to-girl. You know the businesses as well as I do. I can do the vision stuff – the marketing, the where we're going and keep up with the surf stuff while you get it all done. You were always better at the inventory and the employees that I was."

"That's because you're a walking sexual harassment suit waiting to happen," Mac teased.

Dick laughed at himself through her eyes but protested her assessment. "One time. I made one comment about that chick's boobs flopping out of her wetsuit and you think I'm a pervert."

Leaning in, Mac kissed Dick sweetly on the lips before reminding him, "No, I know you're a pervert, babe."

If she wanted to play, Dick was up for anything, Mac could throw at him. Placing both of his hands on the bare skin of her upper thighs protruding from her short shorts, Dick massaged the tender flesh as his pushed her legs apart and sank to his knees in front of her. Dipping his head, he began to nuzzle at the apex of her thighs, causing her to moisten in anticipation of his touch.

"Inside," Mac hissed standing up and abandoning the dinner dishes.

"That's where I'm trying to go," Dick assured her, slipping his long fingers up the leg holes of her shorts, reaching to get to her center.

"No, inside the house," Mac explained trying to urge him to stand.

Dick complied with her unspoken request. "I just want to be inside you."

They only made it as far as the living room. They both started shucking off their clothes as soon as the sliders and blinds were closed.

Instantly Dick pushed Mac so she was bent over the side of the couch. One hand cupped her breasts in his massive palm. The other unbuttoned her shorts. She helped him push them down her legs as she reached back to caress his straining cock through his increasingly tight shorts. Once he had her naked below the waist, Dick shed his own shorts, then pushed Mac's legs wide apart. Reaching around he toyed with her opening to assure that she was lubricated enough for his invasion; she wasn't quite there yet so he took a few minutes to tease her labia while she rubbed her ass against his crotch. Having determined she was ready for him, Dick grabbed her hip to steady her as his plunged into her from behind.

"God, you feel amazing!" She cried as he plugged away at her.

Reaching between their legs, Mac gently cradled his balls in her small hands. Her slow movements were in great contrast to the powerful thrusts he was plowing into her.

Mac didn't have the strength to support both of their weight as Dick rammed home over and over. The couch was taking most of the shock and the cool leather provided a delicious contrast to her burning clit whenever her wide open legs made contact.

It didn't take long for Dick's orgasm to build. "Don't come inside me," she ordered, not wanting to be all sticky. Complying, just as he couldn't hold on any longer, Dick pulled back and nestled himself between her ass cheeks, spurting ribbons of white across her back.

"God, babe. You are so fucking amazing!" he praised as he stripped off his t-shirt to clean up the mess he left across Mac's back.

Before they hit the floor one of them had managed to grab the afghan off the couch and drag it down with them.

As Mac lay on her back breathing heavily after their intense lovemaking, Dick turned on his side and propped his head up on an elbow to look at her. "I was serious you know. I want you to come work at the store full time as my partner."

"Dick,. . ." she started to protest but he cut her off.

"Cindy," he used a tone that told her he was serious. "Look, I talked to the lawyers. Plus there's this contract coming up with the State of California to supply surfboards and equipment to all the lifeguard towers. We've got a better chance at it if we are WEBC certified."

"We who?" Mac asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Women and minority own businesses. It's about supplier diversity. . . about getting government contracts into the hands of somebody other than white men," Dick explained.

"Ah, honey," Mac rolled over to look at him and drink in his gorgeous naked body. Tracing a finger along his flaccid member, she reminded him of something she was sure he couldn't have forgotten, "You are a white man."

Caressing her breasts for emphasis, he retorted, "But you're not."

"So?" Mac really didn't understand where he was going with this but she knew he must have a point because he mentioned lawyers, a government contract and some acronym she didn't know anything about.

"You come into Sexy Surfer. We incorporate. I give you 51% of the company and viola we're a minority owned business."

Mac sat up, crossed her legs Indian style and stared at him disbelievingly. "You can't just give me controlling interested in your business."

Mirroring her posture Dick continued, "I'm not going to give it to you, well not all of it."

"You know I can't afford to buy in," Mac protested.

"I need you to make this legit plus I love you and I expect something in return," Dick marshaled his arguments.

"I know you tell me I give the best blow jobs in the world but I don't think they justify giving me 51% of your business," Mac tried to lighten the mood with a joke.

Dick took the bait, "You do give great head, babe, but right now I need you focus and stop distracting me with all your sex."

"Me? Focus? I'm not the one with the focus problem," Mac replied haughtily. "Or the sex problem."

"I didn't hear you complaining last night while I was focused all on you," Dick retorted, leering at his naked girlfriend.

"All right, all right," Mac returned the conversation to the topic at hand. "Explain this to me again."

"It's very simple. You get 51% of Sexy Surfer. I get some percentage of the Grade sites and then we go get that lifeguard contract. You come in as, I don't know, how does COO sound?"

Although she was mulling this over Mac couldn't help but tease Dick. "It sounds like I do all the work as Chief Operating Officer, while you get all the glory as CEO."

Dipping his head to kiss her lightly, Dick concurred, "That's why you're the brains of this outfit!" Kissing her more deeply, Dick pressed Mac back onto the floor and loomed over her prone body. "And what beautiful brains they are," he praised before starting round two to seal their new business arrangement.

#*~*~*~*~*~*~#

After Dick convinced Mac to quit her job and made her COO at a substantial salary increase, the businesses grew faster than either expected. They got the contract to supply surfboards to the State of California. They rented, then bought warehouse space. They found more suppliers and started to advertise. The Surf Shop sponsored local, then bigger competitions. They took out ads in surf related magazines. The traffic that came for the sports equipment, stayed for the sex toys. The cross-promotions also helped drive more traffic to the "grade" sites which allowed them to charge the advertisers more money and revenues exploded.

*~*~*~* _END FLASHBACK_ ~*~*~*~*~*

Ever the quiet one, Kelly observes, "I can't believe we're having this conversation."

Savannah isn't going to let her sister get away with the reticent act. "Hello. Pineapple. Have you met our parents?"

Brianna jokes, "It's a wonder you didn't have more than five kids."

"Birth control is a wonderful thing," Veronica observes. "Your parents always were hot and heavy right from the beginning."

"I think that's awesome. Sex shouldn't become dull and routine just because you're married. I don't think my dad's been laid in years," Lily offers.

"You'd be surprised, little girl," Veronica shoots down her Goddaughter's theory. Realizing that all eyes were on her, Veronica back pedals, "Not that I know for sure, but I do know Duncan."

Ever the romantic, Kelly interjects, "Enough with the sex talk already. Tell us again about how dad proposed. I love that story. It's so romantic."

Veronica snorts. "I guess you never told them anything but the G-rated version: your third Valentine's day and all that."

"I take it there is more to the story than your usual diamond and one knee," Lily predicts.

"The way I heard it they were naked," Veronica reveals as Mac blushes and her daughters groan in unison.

"Everything I told you was true. We went for a romantic walk on the beach on a tropical island. We had champagne. We swam in the ocean," Mac assures her daughters. "What I may have left out was that we were staying in a private bungalow at a secluded resort and I may have changed the order of things just a little."

"Don't tell me my parents got engaged at Hedonism!" squawks Brianna.

"Don't be ridiculous. I would never go to a place like that," Mac admonishes.

"Dick would have loved to have gone there," Veronica interjects.

"Dick did go there," Mac shoots her old friend a look but then plays dirty, "With Logan."

Veronica's eyes widen in surprise as a shocked Mandy declares, "Gross."

Veronica can't believe there's something she didn't know. "When did Logan go to Hedonism?"

"Thanksgiving break junior year," Mac supplies. "They came back pretty scarred because most of the other vacationers weren't exactly the supermodels they were hoping to see." Everyone laughs at the idea of Logan and Dick on a nude beach surrounded by less than perfect specimens of the human form.

"How did I not know this?" Veronica demands.

"You knew they went to Jamaica to get away from the holidays. Logan was particularly depressed because you guys were broken up again and Dick thought naked babes on the beach would cheer him up. It was just that nobody wanted to tell you exactly where they went because we all knew the break up wouldn't last," Mac reminds Veronica of the roller coaster that used to be her relationship. Even after all these years, if she was honest with herself Veronica knew that if she had known Logan went to Hedonism she would have been angry with him.

Brainna stops this trip down memory lane, "So were you really naked when dad proposed to you on the beach?"

"Yeah, well he was; I had on a towel I think," admits Mac, "which is why I never told you that part, but the rest is true. It was sunset on Valentine's Day, our third anniversary. We had champagne. We'd been swimming in the ocean and making love on the sand . . . he got down on one knee. . "

The girls sigh as Mac continues. "Even though he didn't have ring, he told me that I was the best thing that ever happened to him and how awesome it was that we'd made each other better people – I made him more serious and he helped me be more carefree – how good we were for each other and that we fit together just right so we ought to 'zoom the big wave' and get married."

The girls all smile and Mac continues. "The next day we took a ferry to St. Thomas and picked out our rings." Sniffing and fighting back the fresh round of tears threatening to flow, Mac holds out her left hand to admire the diamond set that rested there for almost forty years.

Although she's heard this story hundreds of times, Veronica still rolls her eyes. Dick always had a unique way of phrasing things. "I have to admit. He was right – you two were a perfect fit and a perfect balance."

Lily is the only one who is impressed. "I think it's wonderful that you two kept the spark going all these years."

Beaming at her friend's daughter Mac finally sees what her son Mitch sees in Lily, that same gusto that was always in Dick. With that realization a fresh round of tears flows freely from her tired eyes but there is a sliver of peace in her heart. Her memories and her family will comfort her.

Placing her hand over the bracelet, Veronica consoles her dearest friend. "It's a love story on your wrist. A reminder of how much you loved each other with a love that will always endure."

Drawing comfort and strength from Veronica, Mac surveys her girls. Tomorrow she would bury Dick. Today she would let their daughters love her.

**The End.**

**A/N:** Try as I might I never could write the wedding / honeymoon. It just didn't make sense. I couldn't do it justice but this seemed to flow. I hoped you enjoyed my little fairy tale. When I initially came into this fandom, the idea of MaDi was ridiculous to me but then as I started to watch them grow together in FF they made more sense.


End file.
